


Fireflies At Night

by haru_senji



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, OC x canon fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haru_senji/pseuds/haru_senji
Summary: Tsukishima Kei doesn't want to put any effort in anything. He'd learned the hard way that if you loved something too much, you'd get hurt the most. But a girl appears in his life, one that makes him wiling to hurt again, if it means loving her with all his being.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Hoshiko Misa, Kageyama Tobio/Original Female Character(s), Tsukishima Kei/Mochizuki Chiasa, Tsukishima Kei/Original Female Character(s), Yamaguchi Tadashi/Yachi Hitoka
Comments: 36
Kudos: 39





	1. Don't Look At Me

Chiasa walked with her head down, her eyes fixed on the four kanji characters on her notebook: "望月 千朝" written in neat handwriting. All around her were the shouts of seniors calling newly enrolled juniors to their booths, trying to get the 15 year olds to join their club. Chiasa ignored all the calls and continued to walk down the corridor leading to her class.

Thudding footsteps suddenly sounded behind her. Before she could even think of avoiding the running person, he rammed into her at full speed, causing her books and pencil case to fly out of her arms. 

Rubbing her backside, Chiasa glanced up at the boy, who had big eyes and a mop of messy orange hair. To her horror (she winced at the sickening crack of her pens breaking), the boy had stepped on her pencil case.

"OH SHOOT!" The boy shouted, quickly lifting his foot off her pencil case. Everyone nearby looked over at the commotion he was causing.

 _No, no, no._ Chiasa thought, still sitting on the floor. _Stop shouting, you idiot. Don't look over here, people. Nothing going on. Please, please, **please** continue minding your own businesses. _

The boy frantically picked up all her books and her blackened pencil case. He put them on the ground next to his feet, kneeled down in front of her and started kowtowing.

"I'm so so so so sorry!" He said, kowtowing once with every 'so'. "I'll make it up to you, I promise! Please tell me your name and class so I can find you later! I'm sorry that I can't make it up to you now because I'm really really in a hurry!"

"Uh, umm, I -" Chiasa stammered, not knowing how to react to his intense apology. In the end, she grabbed to boy's arms to make him stop kowtowing. 

The boy, Hinata, glanced nervously at the volleyball booth, then at his watch. _Ahhhh dammit, recess time's almost up._ He pursed his lips in frustration and looked back at the girl he'd accidentally knocked over in his hurry. She was still looking slightly stunned. Did she hit her head?

Chiasa saw the desperation in Hinata's eyes. _He must be in a hurry._ she thought. 

_It's alright, Chiasa._ She said to herself, gathering courage. _You're just telling him your name and class. Nothing's gonna go wrong._

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

"Umm, my name is M...Mochizuki Chiasa. Class 1-4."

Hinata's eyes immediately lit up. "You're a first year too?" Chiasa gave a small nod.

Hinata smiled brightly at her and gave her back her things. "I'm Hinata Shouyou, from class 1-3! I'm really sorry I can't make it up to you right now, but I'll come and find you for sure!" With that, he dashed off towards the end of the corridor. 

Chiasa slowly stood up and brushed her skirt. She craned her neck and saw Hinata jumping up and down excitedly at the volleyball booth, an application form in his hand. The seniors there were laughing at his enthusiasm. Chiasa noted how bright Hinata's smile was. She found herself smiling softly too.

_How nice it must be to not be afraid to talk like a normal person._

With one last look at Hinata's smiling face, Chiasa walked into her classroom and closed the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just an intro chapter don't worry, it'll get longer


	2. A Certain Golden-Eyed Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life was not going great for Chiasa.

**THE NEXT DAY**

Chiasa put her bag down at the desk right in front of the teacher's table. The class was bustling with sounds; everyone seemed to know everyone else already.

She sat down and took out a plastic bag, a substitute for her pencil case. Inside was nothing other than a pencil and eraser. She took out her books for her first lesson, Japanese, arranged them, and waited patiently at her desk for the teacher to arrive.

The bell signalling the start of school rang soon after, and in walked a short male teacher with messy black hair and glasses. Chiasa immediately approved of this teacher; he was very punctual.

"Good morning, class!" He said cheerfully, a bright smile on his face. Everyone stopped talking and stood up to greet him.

"Good morning, sensei!"

"Good, please sit down." He said, smiling again. He sure does love smiling. Chiasa liked that. After everyone sat down, he wrote his name on the blackboard.

"My name is Takeda Ittetsu," he said, adjusting his black tie. "I am your modern Japanese literature teacher, and also your class teacher for this year. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet yesterday; I was absent for half a day and you students were choosing clubs for the other half. Now-"

He grabbed a stack of papers from his desk.

"Before we start class, I'd like to rearrange your seating! I have the seating chart here, I've arranged it according to alphabetical order. Took all night, so you guys better appreciate it!"

Everyone in the class groaned. Some of the naughtier students even threw some dirty looks at Takeda-sensei. Most of them were muttering to their friends, complaining about their class teacher. Chiasa's face felt sad for the teacher, but took care not to show it on her face. She hoped she got to sit in the front row.

Takeda-sensei looked unaffected by it all. He told everyone to pack their belongings and stand at the front of the class. He began calling the students to their seats. While he was calling names, Chiasa tried her best to assign each name to each student's face. At long last, he called Chiasa's name.

"Mochizuki Chiasa-san!"

Chiasa stepped out and immediately felt all eyes on her. Her heart started beating faster and her hands started sweating and shaking.

_Don't look at me. Please_.

"Sit there, please." He motioned towards a desk in the middle of the second row from the row of windows looking out onto the school yard.

_Not in front_ , Chiasa thought, disappointed. She walked over to her new desk and sat down, rearranging everything like before.

The seating arrangement went on for a few minutes, Chiasa continuing her memorisation of her classmates' names, then Takeda-sensei neared the end of the list.

"Tsukishima Kei-kun!"

Chiasa's eyebrows flitted up a bit. This guy shared a kanji character with her. He was incredibly tall, towering over Takeda-sensei, but very slim, with short blonde hair, pale skin and golden brown eyes. His eyes were very beautiful. He wore a passive expression; she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He had a pair of headphones around his neck.

Takeda-sensei motioned to the seat next to Chiasa.

_Oh dammit, he's sitting next to me? Should I talk to him? But I'm scared. What if he thinks I'm annoying? But if I don't talk to him, will he think that I'm hostile or unfriendly? I can't make him mad at me, we have to sit next to each other for a year! But what should I say if I talk? ..._.

While Chiasa's mind went into over-thinking mode, Tsukishima noticed her frequent glances while arranging his stuff. Her name was the only one he remembered because she shared a kanji character with him. She was quite pretty, he noted, with silver hair slightly past her shoulders and startling grey eyes. They looked fragile, like glass about to break. Her body looked a bit frail and weak too.

Why was she glancing at him? Did he have something on his face? He quickly checked his reflection on the window. No, nothing. Did she need something?

He glanced at her, then at her desk. _Ah_ , he realised when he set eyes on the plastic bag on her table. _She must need a pen_ _and is too shy to ask_.

"Hey," a voice sounded next to Chiasa. She jumped, then looked blankly into Tsukishima's golden brown eyes, her brain still processing the fact that he had spoken to her. He was holding out a pen.

_Huh? Why is he giving me a pen_?

Vaguely, she heard Takeda-sensei finish the seat arrangements. He started talking duty rosters and timetables and all that. She turned to Takeda-sensei to listen, because if she misheard something, that meant asking other people, and that was something she did _not_ want to do.

"Hey." Tsukishima said again, more forcefully. Didn't she want the pen? Why is she ignoring him?

Chiasa looked back at Tsukishima, her mind still a blur.

"Umm, why are you giving me a pen?" She blurted out without thinking.

Tsukishima started. "Isn't that what you wanted? You kept glancing over so I assumed you needed something but was too shy to ask."

"Oh." So he noticed. That was totally not what Chiasa was thinking, but hey, at least she has a pen now.

"Umm, t-thank you."

He nodded, eyes trained turning to look at Takeda-sensei rather than Chiasa. "Just remember to return it after school."

Before Chiasa could nod, she heard Takeda-sensei's voice.

"Tsukishima-kun, Mochizuki-san."

Everyone followed his gaze to the two of them.

"When I talk, I don't like other people talking, all right?" Takeda-sensei said kindly. "You'll have plenty of time to socialise after my class."

Snickers sounded from the back if the class. Chiasa's ear tips flushed, nodding as she lowered her head. She could almost hear the insults the students were itching to say aloud.

_Wimp without a mum, go back to the dumpster you came from_.

_Stop being such a goody-two-shoes, wimp. Oh, I know, you want Mitsuko-_ _sensei_ _to be your mum cause you don't have one, huh?_

"Now, now," Takeda-sensei calmed them. "I'm sure they were just trying to make friends. Now that I've finished talking about the important stuff, let's start with introductions! Since Tsukishima-kun and Mochizuki-san were so eager to make friends, why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Chiasa's heart skipped a bit. Not now. Please not now, when she's trying to keep herself from crying.

She heard the scrape of Tsukishima's chair as he stood up.

"My name is Tsukishima Kei," he began, sounding slightly bored. "I'm from Amemaru Junior High. I live with my parents and my older brother. I like listening to music. Nice to meet you. Please take care of me." With that, he finished with a half-hearted bow and sat down, immediately proceeding to look out of the window.

_How nice it must be to sit by the window_ , Chiasa thought. _You can just look outside when you don't want to deal with people_.

"Very good, Tsukishima-kun!" Takeda-sensei praised. "Now you, Mochizuki-san."

Chiasa stood up slowly, her hands curled into fists. She heard some all-too-familiar snickers from the back row and her heart sank, the words that she had struggled to arrange in her head disappearing.

Tsukishima noticed her clenched fists. They were shaking and her knuckles were white. Her glassy grey eyes looked like they were about to break.

"Mochizuki-san?" Takeda-sensei prodded after Chiasa stood there for a while without saying anything.

"Go, go, Chiasa!" A boy shouted from the back of the class. The girls and boys surrounding him cheered with him.

Takeda-sensei grinned at Chiasa. "See, there's nothing to be scared of! Your friends are cheering you on!"

Chiasa let herself smile bitterly. Friends. Yeah, right.

She took a deep breath and tried copying Tsukishima's introduction.

"M-my name is Mochizuki Ch-Chiasa," she stammered out. "I'm from Kitagawa Daiichi... I..., umm, I..." She faltered.

"Who do you live with? What are your hobbies?" Takeda-sensei tried helping her out.

"I-I live with my father..." Her head started drooping lower. "I like reading..."

_Oh dammit, I forgot to say a cooler hobby._

Takeda-sensei raised his eyebrows. Chiasa knew what he was thinking. _You live with your father? What about your mother?_

This is why she hated introductions. You expose everything to the world when you're too nervous to organise stuff in your head.

"She doesn't have a mum, sensei!" The previous boy who cheered for Chiasa shouted. Upon hearing this, everyone started muttering and glancing at Chiasa.

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at the boy's remark. Didn't have a mum? What does that mean? Does her mum not live with her anymore? Or is her mum dead? He tried to see her face. Her head hung so low now that her hair was covering her face.

"Now, now, that's enough, Koyama-kun," Takeda-sensei lectured. He glanced worriedly at Chiasa. "You may sit down now, Mochizuki-san. Thank you for your introduction."

Chiasa nodded and sat down slowly, her head still hanging low. At that moment, the bell signalling the end of the period rang.

"Ah, I didn't get to do the introductions for the rest of you! Never mind, mingle among each other by yourselves! I'm sure most of you have friends already but try making some new ones! Remember the duty roster!" He picked up his papers from the teacher's table and made to the door. The students started standing up and going to their friends' desks to chat.

"Oh, one more thing!" He said suddenly, turning back. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Before I forget, I have to choose a class monitor and an assistant monitor." Takeda-sensei's eyes fell on Chiasa and Tsukishima.

"Tsukishima-kun! You'll be our new class monitor!" Tsukishima removed his earphones from his head, nodded once, then put them back on.

"Mochizuki-san!"

Everyone turned to look at her. Chiasa raised her head a little.

"You'll be our assistant monitor, all right?"

Chiasa nodded slightly, then turned away from her teacher and her classmates to look out the window. How she wished she was sitting at Tsukishima-kun's seat.

Wait.

There was someone sitting next to her.

And just like this, Chiasa accidentally let Tsukishima see her puffy eyes, red from crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still shamelessly promoting my Tumblr :) I'll post the fics I post there on AO3 too! But if you don't want to miss out my headcanons, go look me up and click a follow ;)


	3. Tsukishima Hates Fuckers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chiasa's day becomes even more worse than it already is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO sorry for the chapter names all right I don't know how to do this (ToT)

**PART 1**

Tsukishima blinked. Yes, he just blinked. What else was he supposed to do? Comfort her? He didn't even know her!

Chiasa quickly looked away, cursing herself for being so careless.

Before Tsukishima could decide on the best course of action to not seem like a teenage paedophile, the boy from the back who'd exposed the fact that Chiasa didn't have a mum (whatever that meant) arrived at Chiasa's seat with his friends. The boy had red hair with flashes of black, black eyes and a small stature. (Small to Tsukishima, slightly tall to everyone else.) He was good-looking, Tsukishima guessed, but had an arrogant expression on his face which made him instantly unlikeable.

One of his gang mates, a girl with straight blonde hair reaching her waist and bright green eyes, sat on Chiasa's desk. She yanked Chiasa's wavy hair, revealing her tear-streaked face.

Chiasa closed her eyes and waited for the pain to fade. She immediately felt as though she hadn't slept in days. She went limp, letting the girl clutch onto her hair.

"Oh, look, Koyama," the girl sneered, addressing the black-eyed boy. "Little wimp's been crying."

They all laughed like hyenas high on helium. Tsukishima winced, hearing it through his earphones. Like, you know that b*itchy laughter all the popular girls do? Yeah, the girls were laughing like that, which was normal, he guessed, but it sounded 10 times more wrong on boys, which was what Koyama and his buddy were doing.

Koyama stalked towards Chiasa, who gaze was cast to the floor.

"We meet again, trash," Koyama leered, his voice so infuriating that Tsukishima had the sudden urge to slap him. Also, 'we meet again'? Dramatic-ass dipshit.

"No one here to protect you anymore, huh?" Koyama continued, smirking delightfully. "No one here to run to the teachers for you now."

Chiasa didn't say anything, letting Koyama's words pierce her. It hurt, but she didn't have energy to fight back anymore. Besides, she'd gotten used to his bullying over the years.

_But you don't want to put up with him today_ , a voice in her said. _You're already worn out after the introduction._

Tsukishima dialed down the volume of his music, curious to see how his new deskmate would react to this bullying.

"P-please go away, Koyama-san," Chiasa tried, her voice weak, while inwardly sighing at herself. This wasn't going to work.

Tsukishima did a mental face-palm. Not even a kitten would be scared by that! Was she useless?

Koyama grinned triumphantly and turned to the blonde. "Did you hear that, Manako? The goody-two-shoes' _begging_."

He turned back to Chiasa and yanked her hair again. Chiasa winced, but continued to keep quiet.

"C'mon, beg me more," he teased. "Beg me and _maybe_ I'll let you go today. No teachers willing to help you here now, freak. You're. All. _Alone_."

Chiasa felt her heart throb. Koyama reminded her too much of junior high, when her days were happier. She let her tears roll down her cheeks silently, not trying to stop them. She missed her friends. She missed them so, so much.

Tsukishima's heart wrenched a little at the silent tears. He turned his attention away from them at that. His deskmate was beyond help. She'd probably do exactly as Koyama said and beg. Then it would be over. Not his problem.

Manako, the blonde who had tugged Chiasa's hair had noticed Tsukishima's glances. He was quite handsome, she thought. He had a cool vibe about him. But most of all, he was very tall. She liked that in a man. She walked over and sat on Tsukishima's desk.

"Hello," she started, smiling flirtatiously. Tsukishima immediately shot her a disgusted look and stood up, putting as much distance between them as he possibly could.

Manako flushed red with embarrassment. She stomped back to Koyama's side and whispered something angrily in his ear, which made him turn away from Chiasa and glare at Tsukishima.

"What do you want, nerd?" He spat. "Apologise to Manako right away."

Tsukishima smirked. "Why should I? She's a bully _and_ a b*tch."

Manako turned even redder, and Koyama was fuming. "Why you little -"

He raised a fist and made to hit Tsukishima, but Tsukishima dodged it and took a step closer to Koyama, looking down at him from his abnormal height.

"You're _pathetic_ ," Tsukishima said, his voice low and ice-cold, his golden-brown eyes so dark in the shadows they looked black.

Chiasa was gaping at Tsukishima in shock. Her deskmate just insulted the two bullies like it was nothing. Was he stupid? Or just very brave?

Tsukishima cast his glance to Manako and the others, including Chiasa. " _All_ of you are." He added in the same tone.

Chiasa's heart dropped to her stomach and she looked away, her ears flaming. Yeah, she was pathetic. Always letting other people push her around. But what was she supposed to do? How would she fight back?

Tsukishima looked back at Koyama, his signature smirk crawling onto his lips. "I know I'm talking like a jerk right now, but that's the only way you could understand what I'm saying, isn't it?"

Koyama's face turned beet red. He made to punch Tsukishima again. Tsukishima inwardly rolled his eyes. Seriously, this Koyama can't take a hint, can he?

He dodged again, then stepped even closer to Koyama, towering over him. "I'll make my point clear again. Stop your infernal squabble right now and _f*ck. Off._ You're disturbing the peace and quiet here, chattering like pigs. You guys think you're so cool, bullying a weakling like that? Everyone has the right to be a jerk once in a while, but I think you guys're abusing that privilege."

Koyama lost it then. He had never had his pride wounded like this before, by a nerd, no less. He had to get a punch in before the next lesson started, just to show the nerd who's boss.

Tsukishima really rolled his eyes this time when Koyama made to hit him _again_. He positioned himself to catch Koyama's fist this time. What he didn't expect was for a small silver blur to throw herself in front of him. A dull thunk sounded as Koyama's punch planted itself square on Chiasa's jaw.

Tsukishima was shocked into silence. Even Koyama himself and his gang looked stunned. Chiasa's tears rolled rapidly down her face as stinging pain exploded on her jaw, but she still raised her head defiantly.

"P-please don't hit him, Koyama-san!" She managed to get out, her voice trembling. Her sobs were always silent, Tsukishima noted. Why did that make her even more pitiful?

Koyama blinked. Why did she take that punch? He thought Chiasa had already learned the lesson of how his punch felt in junior high. He looked at Chiasa, whose grey eyes were shining with tears and defiance.

Koyama was suddenly aware of the stares he was getting from a few of his classmates sitting close by. They hadn't noticed their scene before because Chiasa had kept quiet, but now she was causing a bit of a ruckus. He decided not to ruin his reputation this early into the school year and beckoned to Manako and the others to return to their seats.

Seeing that Koyama and his gang had left, Chiasa did too, sitting down at her seat before quickly standing up again as the teacher for the next lesson entered the class. She turned to look back at Tsukishima, eyes motioning to the teacher. She didn't want to lead the greeting. Not with her stuffy voice and red eyes. She didn't want anyone to look at her.

But Tsukishima could only focus on the purple bruise blossoming on her jaw.

**PART 2**

Chiasa couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was saying. She wanted to, but the stinging pain on her jaw was too agonising. Her nails dug into her arm as she clenched it to divert her attention.

_Until recess_ , she thought. _Hold out until recess. Then you can go to the infirmary. You can't miss Maths. You won't be able to catch up later._

Tsukishima looked at the rows of nail marks on Chiasa's left arm. That punch must've hurt. Koyama was furious back then.

Tsukishima felt a bit guilty. Not for provoking Koyama and Manako of course. He was quite proud of that. He felt guilty because Chiasa had taken the punch meant for him. He already pitied her enough, but now he pitied her even more.

_All right, I'll do it,_ he determined before his rational brain could say "don't succumb to emotions, Kei!"

"Yes, boy?" The teacher said suddenly. Chiasa looked up and followed the teacher's gaze to Tsukishima, who had his hand half raised.

"I need permission to go to the infirmary with her, ma'am," he said, motioning towards Chiasa.

_What? No!_

The teacher took a look at Chiasa's face and saw the bruise. "Oh, dear! Why didn't you tell me sooner, girl? There's no need to be shy." She smiled kindly. "Go now, both of you. Ask your classmates for homework later."

Chiasa looked at Tsukishima, her eyes pleading. Tsukishima stood up and waited for Chiasa. She stayed rooted to the spot.

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. Why was she looking at him like that? He was doing the right thing, wasn't he? This is the kindest he's been in a while, can't she at least appreciate it?

"Why aren't you moving?" He asked, annoyance laced in his voice.

Chiasa lowered her head. "I-I don't want to miss Maths," she admitted, her voice small. "I won't be able to catch up later."

Tsukishima stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously? That's your reason?"

She had the nerve to nod. He rolled his eyes. "I'll teach you later, alright?" He said briskly. "Now come with me to the infirmary. I can tell it's hurting more than you're letting on."

Chiasa's head shot up, her eyes shining. "You'll really teach me?"

Tsukishima didn't look at her. "Get up before I change my mind."

She quickly stood up and tagged behind Tsukishima as they exited the classroom and walked down the hallway. The silence between them was thick and awkward. Chiasa had to walk fast to catch up to Tsukishima because he took very long strides.

"Umm-" she started, as she walked next to him, wringing her hands. "I, umm, thank you for-"

"Don't." Tsukishima stopped in his tracks and cut her off curtly. Chiasa stopped too and looked up at him, shocked.

Tsukishima turned his head to look at her. Chiasa shrank a little under his gaze. His face looked like a thundercloud. "You don't need to thank me. Because I wasn't helping you."

Chiasa faltered, then looked away. She couldn't look directly into his eyes. The disappointment and disgust in them were all too familiar.

"Besides," Tsukishima continued, "you really need to step up your game. Can't you fight back? Are you just going to let them push you around? Absolutely pathetic."

Chiasa bit her lip to stop herself from crying yet again. All her self-hatred bubbled up to the surface. Tsukishima continued to stride ahead, wholely unaware of her feelings.

They continued walking in uncomfortable silence until they reached the infirmary. Tsukishima stopped outside the doorway.

"I'm only bringing you here because I felt guilty that you took that punch for me." He said, looking straight ahead and not at the tiny figure next to him. "I'll be going back now."

With that, he turned and walked back in the opposite direction without looking back, leaving Chiasa alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters are getting longer and longer, I'm scared that people wouldn't want to finish reading all of it ╥﹏╥


	4. Tsukishima Gets The Talk (not the one you're thinking of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiasa makes a friend （＾ｖ＾）

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was also a shitty chapter name I'm so sorry

Chiasa fished a plastic bag out of her backpack, a bottle of milk and a packet of bread inside it. It was lunchtime now. Her classmates had already gotten into groups and were eating lunch together, contrasting the fact that she was all alone.

Chiasa stuck the straw into the milk packet as she noted down homework with her left hand. Her chin didn't hurt as much anymore after going to the infirmary.

After Tsukishima had left her alone at the infirmary, Chiasa had taken a long time to go in, arranging and rearranging words in her head.

 _Ok, first I knock, then I bow and say 'excuse me',_ she'd thought, imagining her tone and movement. _Then I ask for an ice pack and go back to class._

She'd felt a bit relieved as she tried to calm her beating heart. This was easier than usual. She probably didn't need to small talk because her jaw hurt, and infirmary nurses are usually quite nice.

The door had opened quite suddenly, startling Chiasa. Her mind went completely blank. A nurse with short black hair and round glasses was standing in front of her, an empty mug in her hand.

"Hello, girl," the nurse had smiled. "Do you need anything - oh! What a nasty bruise! Come in, come in!"

The nurse had dragged Chiasa into the infirmary and plopped her down on a chair. Chiasa's mind was unusually silent as she tried to remember her script. The nurse hustled about, preparing an ice pack.

A cold sting had woken Chiasa from her daze as the nurse gently pressed the ice pack against her bruise. Chiasa winced a little at the pain, but the cold slowly dulled it.

"Does it hurt?" The nurse had asked kindly. "If it does, tell me, alright?"

Chiasa shook her head. The nurse tutted. "How did you get this?"

Chiasa froze.

"Uh, I, umm, I -" Her brain whirled as she searched frantically for an excuse. "I fell," she had said lastly. The nurse's eyebrows raised in suspicion, but she didn't question Chiasa any further. Chiasa was really thankful for that.

"Just be careful next time," the nurse had lectured. Chiasa nodded. The nurse took away the ice pack for a while.

"Touch it now," she said. "If it hurts, I'll give you another pack for you to take back to class." Chiasa touched the bruise gingerly. It hurt when she touched it, but otherwise it felt normal.

"Umm, it's fine now," she lied. She stood up and made to the door, anxious for her Maths lesson. But as soon as she stood up, the world spun around her. Her head felt heavier than the rest of her body and she closed her eyes to fight the dizziness. She would've fallen if it weren't for the nurse.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The nurse pulled Chiasa up by her arm. "You're not fine at all. Go lie down." She led Chiasa to the infirmary bed.

"Ah, no!" Chiasa had refused, trying to pull away. "I - I have to get back to class..."

The nurse held on firmly. "Before you came here, didn't you ask you friend to help you take down your homework?"

 _I'll teach you later._ Tsukishima's voice had rung in her head.

He _did_ promise to teach her, didn't he? So it's probably fine? Chiasa's head spun again. Ah, she shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning...

Chiasa had lain on the bed as the nurse helped her to adjust her blanket. She had fallen asleep, her dizziness overriding her worry. The rational voice in her head berated her for being so trusting, but she tried to shut it out.

_Try to make more friends, ok? We won't be by your side anymore, so try to find someone who will be, alright?_

Her friends' kind voices echoed in her head. She smiled a little, remembering their faces. Yes, she should try to trust other people more. Trust was the start of friendship, wasn't it? She couldn't disappoint her friends after all they've done for her. It wouldn't be fair to them.

Chiasa cast a look at Tsukishima, who had taken off his earphones for once and was tidying his desk for lunch.

_I'll teach you later._

When was later? Now? Or after school? What if she was supposed to remind him now? Maybe he'd forgotten already. So should she ask? But she -

"Tsukki! Let's eat together!"

Chiasa turned to see a tall boy with dark green hair and a smattering of freckles over his nose and cheekbones. He looked quite cheerful and nice. The boy sat down at the empty seat in front of Tsukishima with his bento.

"We always eat together, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima replied, sounding annoyed. "You don't have to ask every time."

Yamaguchi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Tsukki!"

Yamaguchi noticed Chiasa's gaze on them. He gave her a friendly smile.

"Hello! My name's Yamaguchi Tadashi, from Amemaru Junior High! What's your name?"

Chiasa blinked in shock. _Shoot, this is sudden._

"Umm-" she stammered.

Tsukishima cut her off. "We were the only two who did introductions, Yamaguchi. You seriously don't remember her name?"

Yamaguchi smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Tsukki. I wasn't paying attention to either of your introductions." He stuck out a tongue playfully. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and searched his backpack for his bento.

Yamaguchi looked back at Chiasa expectantly.

 _Guess I can't back out of this_ , Chiasa thought, sighing inwardly.

"Umm, m-my name is Mochizuki Chiasa, I am from Kitagawa Daiichi, nice to meet you, please take care of me!" Chiasa finished all this in a breath.

Yamaguchi was slightly taken aback by her formality.° Nonetheless, he smiled at her and replied, "Nice to meet you! Please take care of me too!"

Chiasa gave a shaky grin back, then quickly looked away, focusing her attention on unwrapping her bread.

"Which club are you in, Mochizuki-san?" Yamaguchi continued the conversation.

Chiasa's hands stopped unwrapping the plastic covering her bread. They had to small talk?! Dammit, today really wasn't her day.

"Umm, p-please call me Chiasa," she clarified first. She hated when people called her by her surname. This was the only thing she couldn't run away from, since it was printed on her birth certificate. "I am not in any club."

Yamaguchi made a shocked face. "Oh, I thought for sure you were in one of the culture clubs, like photography or calligraphy."

Chiasa nodded, then shook her head, then paused, her eyebrows knotting as she descended deep into thought. Nodding meant that 'yes, I'm not in a club' and shaking meant 'no, I'm not in a club'. So was she supposed to nod or shake her head?

She heard a snort of laughter and snapped out of her daze to see Tsukishima snickering softly as he looked at Chiasa's weird expression

Chiasa's ears flamed. She must've looked stupid.

Tsukishima turned his attention away from Chiasa, the small smile slipping off his face. "Can we eat now?" He asked impatiently, tapping his finger on the cover of his bento.

"Sorry, got a bit carried away," Yamaguchi laughed. They both said a quick 'thank you for the food' and dug in.

Chiasa was relieved that they finally started eating. Forcefully pushing her embarrassing moment to the back of her mind, she nibbled on her bread and she worked on her English workbook. She'd just finished her milk when she heard her name.

"Mochizuki-san?"

Chiasa's head shot up and her hand stopped writing. One of her classmates motioned to the doorway. "Someone wants to see you."

"Excuse me!"*

The loud voice was accompanied by a familiar mop of bright orange hair. Hinata, the boy who had knocked her over yesterday, walked into her classroom. He strode to her seat and set a pencil box on her desk. It was white and simple, with a drawing of a cute grey cat and sakura petals. It was the most beautiful thing Chiasa had ever owned. Chiasa opened the zip and peered inside. Hinata had also bought her a full set of stationery. She really couldn't thank him enough.

"Here! I bought these yesterday on the way back home. Hope you like it!" Hinata gave her a radiant smile. "And sorry again for knocking you over."

Chiasa shook her head, a bit overwhelmed at his generosity. "No, no, it's fine, it really is." She flashed Hinata a soft smile, the first time she'd really smiled since coming to this school. "Umm, thank you, Hinata-kun. Thank you so much, really. I love it!"

Hinata grinned. "You're welcome! And just Hinata will do!"

Chiasa flashed a small smile back. "Y-you can call me Chiasa too."

She thought back to when Hinata jumped up and down happily after applying for the volleyball club. The least she could do to thank him was try to talk to him, right? Maybe, just maybe, he'd like to be friends?...

"Did you - did you join the volleyball club?" She tried to continue the conversation. Her heart pounded in her chest. Was she doing this right?

"Ah, you saw!" Hinata looked surprised. "Yep, I did! It's great fun, but I got kicked out 'cause I couldn't get along with someone from my team. Well, of course I can't, he was my rival in junior high! But I really do like volleyball, so I suppose I have to try to make friends with him..."

Chiasa smiled inwardly. Talking to Hinata was nice. He talked a lot, so Chiasa just needed to prompt him a bit for the conversation to go on for a long time.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Hinata said suddenly. Chiasa snapped out of her thoughts.

"Stupid me," Hinata laughed apologetically. "I ran into Takeda-sensei on my way here, he wants to see the monitor and assistant monitor of your class. Can you point them out for me?"

"Ah, I'm the assistant monitor," Chiasa told him.

"Wow!" Hinata looked impressed. "That's cool!" Chiasa have him a small smile again.

He looked at his watch. "Sorry, I have to go now, " Hinata said, scratching his head. "I came here right after my class ended. I haven't eaten lunch yet and I have recess duty later."

"Oh, please do!" Chiasa said hurriedly, then realised that sounded rude. "Ah, s-sorry, I didn't mean it like that; it's really nice having you here. I-I meant that you should go back to your class and eat. S-sorry for taking up so much of your time, and that came out wrong... Sorry..." Her heart sank to her stomach. He must hate her now.

Hinata laughed brightly, which shocked Chiasa. "I get it! You don't need to say sorry,Chiasa-san! It's not your fault!"

He stuck out a hand for her to shake. "It was really nice meeting you! Can we be friends?"

Chiasa gaped at him, her mind a whirl. Friends? Did he just _ask_ to be her _friend?_

Hinata's face fell a little when Chiasa didn't shake his hand. "Oh, sorry for being presumptuous," he said awkwardly, withdrawing his hand. "It's okay if you don't want to be my friend..."

"Ah, no!" Chiasa reached out and shook Hinata's hand up and down a little too vigorously. "I'd love to!"

Hinata paused, then smiled happily. "Alright, I'll be going then!" He walked to the door and gave Chiasa a little wave before disappearing from sight.

Chiasa felt warm and fuzzy inside. A friend. She just made a new friend at Karasuno. Her first friend here.

If only making friends with everyone was this easy.

Chiasa turned to Tsukishima, a half-smile still remaining on her face.

"Umm, Tsukishima-kun," she called, but she didn't need to. Tsukishima was already looking at her.

"You can smile?" He asked bluntly. Chiasa's mouth slipped back into a straight line.

"Tsukki, that's rude!" Yamaguchi said indignantly. He turned to Chiasa and ducked his head apologetically. "Sorry."

"What are _you_ sorry for?" Tsukishima snapped. "I say what I want." He closed the cover of his empty bento case and stood up, heading to the door.

"Where're you going?" Yamaguchi called after him.

Tsukishima turned. "Didn't you hear that orange haired shorty? We need to go see Takeda-sensei." He gave Chiasa a look. "Aren't you going to get up now?"

Chiasa hurried to get up, tripping over the leg of her table in the process. She got up from the floor with Yamaguchi's help, ears burning, and followed Tsukishima's tall figure out of the classroom.

As they exited the classroom, Chiasa suddenly remembered that Tsukishima had witnessed her whole scene with Koyama. A shiver went down her spine as she imagined Tsukishima telling the teacher. He must be mad that Koyama tried to punch him. He'll definitely tell. But he _can't_. It'll just make things worse. A whole lot worse.

"Umm, Tsukishima-kun?" Chiasa called. Tsukishima stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her, a bored look on his face.

"What?"

"Could you - could you please help keep me and Koyama's, umm, 'interaction' a secret?" Chiasa asked, avoiding Tsukishima's sharp gaze.

Tsukishima narrowed his eyebrows at the fidgeting figure in front of him. Classic victim. Always scared of what the bully might do. He wanted to tell, though. He was quite pissed at Koyama. So should he tell or not? He thought about it for a while, then stopped. Why was he thinking? This wasn't his problem anyway.

"You needn't have asked me. I don't care anyways," he replied curtly.

Chiasa felt a wave of relief mixed with hurt. _Of course he doesn't care,_ she chided herself. _And it's not the first time you've heard these three words. It's about time you got used to them._

But those three words hurt a lot more than Chiasa would let on.

They headed to the staffroom, the silence between them as uncomfortable as before. This time, Chiasa didn't try to walk next to Tsukishima again. They descended the stairs and entered the teacher's staffroom.

"Excuse me,"* they said while bowing as they entered the staffroom. Tsukishima caught sight of Takeda-sensei's mop of curly hair and strode towards his desk.

"Ah, there you are!" Takeda-sensei smiled at them in greeting. "Eaten lunch yet?" They both nodded.

"Good." Takeda-sensei took a stack of papers out of his drawer and handed them to Tsukishima. "I have a few things I'd like you two to do."

"First, I'd like a list of the telephone numbers of your classmates and their parents. Create a group chat for your class with the numbers. Then send me all the parents' numbers; my number is on the name list. Next, here's a form for every student to fill up. They'll need to fill their personal information, and also sign here. I'd like you to explain the details to them when you get back to class, otherwise they'll fill the wrong column. Lastly, I'd like both of you to take turns supervising recess duty. Discuss how to do it; today will be your first time. You can decide the schedule between yourselves."

Takeda-sensei grinned at them after delivering all that information in one go. "Any questions?"

Tsukishima's eyebrows knotted a little as he tried to comprehend all the details and in what order he should carry the tasks out. His brain was feeling a little sluggish after lunch.

"No questions, sensei," Chiasa said softly. Tsukishima turned to see her perfectly at ease, with absolutely no sign of her struggling to remember the tasks.

"Very good," Takeda-sensei praised. He paused a while before continuing.

"Mochizuki-san, can you wait a while outside for Tsukishima-kun? I'd like to speak with him privately for a while."

Tsukishima's eyebrows flitted up. This was new. He was sure he hadn't done anything wrong.

Chiasa nodded and bowed slightly to Takeda-sensei as she left.

Takeda-sensei turned to Tsukishima. "You look like a smart boy, so I'll get straight to the point."

 _This sounds serious,_ Tsukishima thought.

"Will you please help me look out for Mochizuki-san, as the class monitor?"

Tsukishima blinked, shocked. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this.

"What do you mean, sensei?"

Takeda-sensei turned his chair to face Tsukishima. He wasn't smiling like he usually was.

"Mochizuki-san comes from a, how do I put it, somewhat problematic family. I am not in a position to say more, as this is Mochizuki-san's personal issue."

 _Of course she had to come from a problematic family,_ Tsukishima thought. _She isn't quite normal, from what I've seen so far._

"Besides that, she has also been diagnosed with...several mental illnesses."

Tsukishima really felt taken aback this time. He knew she was nervous and fidgety, but he didn't expect her to have not one, but _many_ illnesses _._

"To understand her situation more, I paid a visit to Kitagawa Daiichi," Takeda-sensei continued. "That's why I was absent on the first day of school. I didn't get much information though."

"This is the first time I've dealt with a...somewhat _special_ student." Takeda-sensei admitted. "To be honest, I have no idea how to help her as a teacher. Her junior high teacher had told me that she refused to open up to any of the school counsellors. She didn't join any clubs, nor spoken in class. The only people she interacted with were her three friends. So now, I'm asking you to help her get through these hard times as her deskmate, and as a class monitor."

He looked Tsukishima directly in the eyes. Tsukishima felt a sudden urge to look away from the intensity in them.

"A class monitor not only monitors his class, but also cares for them as family," Takeda-sensei lectured. "I hope you can do this for me. I know it's a lot to ask from you, someone who doesn't know Mochizuki-san in the slightest, but I hope you can find it in your heart to make friends with her."

Tsukishima felt nothing. He hated himself just then. Any normal person would feel sympathetic and readily agree, but the only thing he could think of right now was: how bothersome. The position of class monitor was forced on him, he wanted to tell Takeda-sensei. He didn't ask for this. He rarely did things he didn't need to do, and this fell under that category.

"So," Takeda-sensei said with finality, "can you do this for me?"

Tsukishima thought for a while, then cut off his own thoughts. His mother always said he used his head too much. Maybe he should start using his heart, if he had one.

"I - guess so..." Tsukishima agreed not-very-willingly.

Takeda-sensei smiled warmly at him. Tsukishima avoided his gaze. He didn't deserve to be looked at like that. Like he was a good person.

Because no matter what he told Takeda-sensei, deep down he knew. He was a monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was REALLY long, I was on a whim when I wrote this (´∀`) Hope you all enjoyed it!


	5. Trusting A Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Study session and an unwanted promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm not writing too much on purpose.

Tsukishima walked out of the staffroom, bowing slightly as he closed the door. He spotted Chiasa waiting for him nearby. Her back was to the wall and her arms were locked in front of her. Her eyes darted around as mobs of students walked past her, looking like she was ready to bolt at any minute.

_She has been diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses._

Takeda-sensei's voice echoed in Tsukishima's head. Tsukishima studied Chiasa, trying to find any clues of her illnesses.

If you weren't observant enough, you would've thought that she was a normal girl. But if you were, you would notice that she fidgeted and stammered a lot. She always looked down, and she never looked you directly in the eye for more than two seconds. Sometimes, she looked downright _terrified._ Of what Tsukishima had no idea.

Chiasa looked over as the door clicked shut. She tagged behind Tsukishima as they walked back to class. His aura had changed a bit, she noticed. Before, the air surrounding him felt prickly, and she was scared of him, she admitted. But now, that unfriendliness had vanished, and the air around him felt more comfortable. Less suffocating.

 _What did Takesa-sensei say to him?_ She wondered.

They reached their class. Tsukishima stopped at the doorway. Chiasa looked at the back of his head curiously. Did he have something to say to her?

Tsukishima turned around and saw Chiasa's grey eyes on him. They were very unique. Tsukishima wondered if she was half Japanese and half Western. Only people from Western countries had eye colours like that.

"Come to the library after school. Don't be late."

Throwing these words at her, Tsukishima strode back into class, leaving Chiasa by the doorway.

Chiasa blinked, stunned, then felt a wave of joy. He remembered! She didn't need to ask him after all!

She walked into the classroom after him, feeling light and happy inside. She reached her desk and sat down, taking out her social studies homework.

She jumped as someone touched her shoulder after she'd opened the first page. She turned around to see Tsukishima, the stack of forms in his hand.

"We have to address them about this, then lead the recess duty," Tsukishima reminded her.

Chiasa looked into his golden-brown eyes, then looked away. She didn't want to do this. Stand in front of 33 other people and talk? With Koyama in the same class as her? This was suicide.

Tsukishima looked down at her silver hair. An image of Chiasa's terrified face when she was standing outside the staffroom flashed across his mind. He sighed inwardly.

"I'll do the talking," he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Chiasa immediately looked up, her eyes shining. "Really?"

Tsukishima looked away. Why was she so happy? He was just talking. Did she not want to talk that badly?

"Yes. But you have to stand there with me." Tsukishima wasn't going to let her go that easily. She was the assistant monitor; doing all the work by himself wasn't an option. But he started to rethink his action when he saw fear flash across Chiasa's grey eyes.

Chiasa's palms started sweating. She wiped them on her skirt. Just stand there, she reassured herself. You don't need to talk. It's fine.

"All right," she agreed. Tsukishima noticed her voice shaking. Nonetheless, Chiasa stood up and followed Tsukishima to the front of the class, partially hiding behind his tall frame.

Tsukishima tapped the teacher's desk sharply with a sturdy ruler. Everyone looked up at the sound.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he started, his voice sounding like a robot. "I'm Tsukishima Kei, your class monitor for the year. Takeda-sensei would like all of us to fill in this form here, and I'll explain what to do."

Chiasa was painfully aware of all the stares fixated on them. Most of them were on Tsukishima, but a few, including Koyama's, were on her. Chiasa tried to ignore Koyama's sneer, glancing away, but became even more conscious of the gazes on her.

Her thoughts started rambling away, like a switch had turned them on. _Why are they looking at me? Do I have something on my face? Is it that I look pathetic?_

_Is it because of my eyes?_

Her heart sank at the thought. She retreated even further into Tsukishima's shadow. She could hide almost everything about herself that she didn't want people to see. Everything except her eyes.

"That's all for the form."

Tsukishima finished, then looked over his shoulder at the small figure behind him. Chiasa's fists were clenched at her side, her whole body rigid. Beads of sweat trailed down her pale face. Tsukishima sighed inwardly, deciding that he wouldn't pull Chiasa up the next time they had to make an announcement. She could do other stuff to split their work. After hesitating for a while, he stepped a little to the right to hide her whole body from view. Chiasa relaxed a bit as his big shadow fell on her. She couldn't see anyone and nobody could see her.

Tsukishima turned back to the class and started reading the duty roster from another piece of paper in the same monotone voice.

"I'll paste the list on the board, report for your respective duties at 1:00 p.m. sharp."

Tsukishima looked down at his classmates, a glint in his eyes. "I don't tolerate latecomers."

With that, he swept off, Chiasa following closely behind him. She sat back down at her seat and listened to the whispers of the students near her.

"My, what a bossy monitor."

"What about our assistant monitor? She didn't say anything."

"She was hiding behind the monitor, is she scared? And what's the deal about her not having a mum?"

"Hey, did you see her eyes? They're weird, and a bit creepy."

"Really?"

Chiasa immediately felt a few heads turning in her direction. She folded in on herself, placing her forehead on her desk to hide her face. To hide her eyes to be exact.

God, she hated this. Can they just look away?

"Chiasa-san."

Chiasa looked up at the familiar voice. Even if it had only been half a day, Chiasa had gotten used to Tsukishima's voice. It was clear and lilting, when he wasn't insulting anyone, that is. There was no disgust, no annoyance, no judgement, no happiness, no sadness, no nothing. It felt safe somehow. She found herself responding every time he called her without fear.

"Umm, are you okay with me calling you Chiasa-san?" Tsukishima asked awkwardly after Chiasa had stared at him for a bit too long. He thought that she was offended by him calling her by her given name when they weren't that close at all. "Uh, you told Yamaguchi to call you by your given name even though you'd just met him, so I thought you might not like anyone calling you by your surname."

_Spot on, Tsukishima-kun._

"Uh, y-yes, yes, it's perfectly fine!" Chiasa said hastily. "Umm, w-what did you call me for? Not that you're not allowed to call me, just that I thought I had to do something, and I didn't react fast enough... Sorry for staring at you just now..."

Tsukishima was feeling a bit overwhelmed by her words, one tumbling over the other. _She's over thinking_ everything _, to the point where it's a bit worrying_ , Tsukishima thought.

"It's 1 now, and we have to lead the recess duty," he reminded her.

"Ah, y-yes, I'm sorry for forgetting, I won't forget again, sorry..." Chiasa fumbled with the things on her desk, accidentally knocking all her books onto the floor.

"Ah, s-sorry, sorry..." Chiasa flushed red at the tips of her ears and bended down to pick up her books. Gosh, this was so _embarrassing._ Why did she always have to be such a clutz when she was nervous?

Tsukishima sighed inwardly. He'd already lost count of the times he'd sighed while watching Chiasa. She was way too nervous, and said sorry so many times that Tsukishima was starting to get a bit annoyed.

"Chiasa-san," he said, taking care to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Chiasa's hand froze and she looked up. He knelt down to pick up her books and looked her in the eyes.

"It's fine. People drop books all the time," Tsukishima continued slowly, like he was talking to a child. "Most of the students have already started duty without us. We don't need to hurry. It's fine."

_It's fine._

Chiasa took deep breaths. Yeah, it's fine. What was she so nervous for? The students had already started duty, she didn't need to talk, and she was having a Maths lesson after school. Everything's fine.

Tsukishima watched as Chiasa visibly calmed down. He finished picking up her books and placed them on her desk.

Chiasa flashed Tsukishima a grateful smile. She was really glad that he was here, even though she'd just met him today. He was cold and blunt and uncaring, but he did what her friends always did in junior high when she was close to having an anxiety attack. He'd talk to her slowly and calm her down.

Tsukishima looked away from her shining eyes. He didn't deserve that look. He didn't help her out of the kindness in his heart. He just thought she was getting a bit annoying.

"Now," Tsukishima brushed his hands on his pants, "choose which one you want to do, lead recess duty or collect the students' numbers for the group chat."

Chiasa felt her heart skip a beat. Oh dear, they were going to do this _individually?_

Tsukishima stared down at her. "Don't look at me like that," he said, the annoyance he'd been supressing edging into his voice. "You're the assistant monitor; you're supposed to assist me, not let me do everything by myself."

Chiasa nodded quickly, sensing the slight change in Tsukishima's tone. "Y-yes, yes, of course I'll help... Umm, I'll, uh, lead the duty...I guess?" She could just stand there and watch, maybe she wouldn't need to talk.

Tsukishima had expected as much. Of course she wouldn't want to go around the class to talk to every single person.

"Alright, fine by me." He held out a pen and paper to Chiasa. "Write your number first."

Chiasa pushed the pen and paper back to him. "N-no need, I don't have a phone..."

Tsukishima's eyebrows flitted up. "Your father's then?"

Chiasa shook her head. "He wouldn't want to be added into a group chat full of noisy teenagers."

Tsukishima almost laughed at her description of a group chat, but crossed his arms instead.

"Then how would you know if one of our teachers gave extra homework in the group chat?"

Chiasa paused as she thought about it. Tsukishima found it a bit amusing that whenever she was thinking, she would freeze in place and not move at all until she was done.

"Umm, I'll - I'll just finish the whole book, I guess?..." She said hesitantly.

Tsukishima gaped at her. Finish the whole book? Gosh, she was such a goody-two-shoes. He grabbed the pen and paper and turned away.

"Suit yourself."

*****

Chiasa sat at a table in the most private corner of the library, Tsukishima opposite her. She had rushed out of class the moment the bell had rung just to choose a spot where no one could look at her without her knowing. Tsukishima, of course, had noted her interesting choice of seating, but had chosen not to comment on it.

"Yamaguchi will be joining us later," Tsukishima informed Chiasa, his hands moving to fish his pencil box and books out of his bag. "He's gone to tell one of the senpai in our club that we won't be attending club activities today."

"Eh?" Chiasa gasped. "I-I didn't know you had club activities! Y-you can go, there's no need to tutor me, sorry for inconveniencing you..."

Tsukishima felt the familiar feeling of annoyance surfacing.

"Can you shut up?" He snapped. "I _offered_ to give you lessons, so of course I have my own schedule worked out already. You're not inconveniencing me, so stop apologising."

Chiasa shut up right away. Gosh, this was not good. She'd made Tsukishima mad. What if he started hating her? She tried hard to think back to how she talked with her friends. How do you talk with someone to make them _not_ hate you?

Tsukishima saw the pained and confused expression on Chiasa's face.

_I hope you can find it in your heart to make friends with her._

Tsukishima's heart twinged with guilt. Dammit, he was being a complete asshole. Being nice was hard.

"S-sorry..." He said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to tell you to shut up... Just - you're not inconveniencing me, okay?"

Chiasa looked up, her thoughts scattering like smoke. Did this mean he didn't hate her? That's great!

Tsukishima saw Chiasa's face soften, the corners of her lips lifting a little. Can she not look so happy every time he tried to be just a little nicer to her? It made it seem like Tsukishima was a good person, a good friend, a good class monitor.

He wasn't.

Tsukishima turned away from her and opened his Maths textbook.

"Today we learned about indices. A number in index notation is written as _a_ to the power of _n._ For example..."

Chiasa listened intently, her grey eyes staring unblinkingly at her own textbook as Tsukishima explained. Tsukishima admired her concentration. She would occasionally pick up her pencil to jot down a few notes, but other than that she stayed completely still, like she did when she was thinking.

"That was the lesson today." Tsukishima finished. "Let's move on to exercises then."

Chiasa nodded, then turned to take her Maths workbook out of her bag. Tsukishima took a peek at her textbook.

Chiasa's notes on her textbook were completely illegible. They looked like vines scrawling across the page. Tsukishima was a bit surprised. He'd thought that she was the type of person with neat handwriting.

Chiasa turned back and Tsukishima looked away from her textbook. Just then, Tsukishima felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Yamaguchi grinning at him.

"Hello, Tsukki!" He greeted cheerfully, then saw Chiasa. "And hello to you too, Chiasa-san."

Chiasa gave him a small smile. "Good afternoon, Yamaguchi-kun."

Yamaguchi pulled out the chair next to Tsukishima and sat down.

"So, what are we doing now?" He asked curiously, peering over at Tsukishima's textbook. Tsukishima waved him off.

"Do your own stuff. I just told her to do exercises."

"All right." Yamaguchi fished his homework out of his bag and started working on it. Fifteen minutes passed as they each did their own stuff, the silence occasionally broken by the sound of Chiasa pressing her calculator.

Chiasa put down her pen and slid her workbook across the desk to Tsukishima. Tsukishima picked up a pencil and started marking her work. His eyebrows gradually knitted together as he marked the questions.

The problem solving questions were completely wrong.

He looked back at Chiasa's innocent face in shock.

"Umm, did you get what I said just now at all?" He asked incredulously. "Even if it's a problem solving question, you don't need to do any complex calculations. Just sub the formula in."

Chiasa blinked twice. "But why?"

Tsukishima gaped at her. "Why? Just - just sub it in! There _is_ no 'why'!"

Chiasa looked down at her lap. She knew this would happen sooner or later. Every time someone taught her Maths, they would give up at this point.

"I - I can't do problem solving questions if I don't understand the formula..." Her voice trailed off, ashamed of herself.

Tsukishima didn't quite understand what was going on. It's a formula! Just sub it in and use a calculator!

"What do you mean 'understand the formula', Chiasa-san?" Yamaguchi helped to voice out Tsukishima's thoughts in a nicer way.

Chiasa fidgeted a little under the two boys' stares.

"Umm, like, uh," she flipped through her textbook and stopped at a page, "like, umm, this _\- a_ to the power of _m_ times _a_ to the power of _n_ equals _a_ to the power of _m+n_ , right?"

She closed the textbook and looked back to the two boys, her grey eyes curious. "B-but why? How does it work?"

She cast her eyes to the floor. "I-If I don't understand it, I can't do the question...sorry..."

Tsukishima could only stare at her, his mind blank. He had never met anyone like this before. He'd always been good at Maths, and since junior high, his teachers have always asked him to tutor the weaker students. He'd always taken pride in the fact that anyone he tutored would improve in the next exam.

But Chiasa, she was a hopeless case.

How could anyone not know how to sub in a simple formula? And understand the formula? There's no need to understand the formula! Just - just sub it!!

Chiasa felt Tsukishima's inner conflict even though it didn't show on his face. The atmosphere had changed a little. She kept her eyes on the edge of the table, ashamed to look at the two boys.

"Sorry..."

Tsukishima immediately held up a hand. "Stop. Saying. Sorry." He gritted out.

Chiasa bit her quivering lip.

"There, there, Tsukki," Yamaguchi said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "Go home and think about Chiasa's question, all right? For now, let's have a study session together!"

Tsukishima sighed inwardly. Nope, he wouldn't go home and think about it. Chiasa was useless, and he didn't want to waste his time on her. He took out his social studies homework and started scribbling away, ignoring the other two.

Chiasa took her Maths workbook back, stuffing it in her bag. This was why she hated Maths. She couldn't make sense of anything, and whenever she tried to ask, she would always get the same response.

Half an hour passed and Tsukishima had finished his homework. He put down his pen and stretched, then glanced at Yamaguchi. He was tapping his pen on his chin, brow furrowed as he stared at a question in their modern Japanese literature workbook.

Yamaguchi looked up and pushed his book towards Tsukishima. "Hey, Tsukki, what's the answer to this one? I don't understand the poem."

Tsukishima took a look at the page, then pushed the book back towards Yamaguchi. "I didn't do that page. I don't understand it either. Just go back home and Google the answers, I guess."

Yamaguchi nodded, then turned to look at Chiasa, who was still writing. "Chiasa-san, are you done yet?"

Chiasa's head shot up, her hand stopping. "Ah, y-yes," she stammered as she quickly closed her social studies book, but not before Tsukishima caught sight of the page she was doing. Page ten.

Their homework was just page one.

_I'll just finish the whole book, I guess?..._

Chiasa's words when Tsukishima had asked for her number rang in his head. _Gosh, what a try-hard,_ Tsukishima thought.

Yamaguchi pushed his book to her. "Do you know how to do this?"

Chiasa's grey eyes scanned the page. She was silent for a few seconds, then picked up her pencil and started explaining the poem to Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima had to admit, he was quite impressed. Not only had she done exercises on what the teacher hadn't taught with ease, she could also analyse and interpret literature at first glance. Tsukishima didn't particularly like literature, it was really confusing sometimes; nor did he like social studies, because he had to memorise lots of information for exams.

Tsukishima looked at Chiasa while she was teaching Yamaguchi. Her eyes were shining, he noted. Her hands gestured a lot when she explained how beautiful a poem it was, her voice filled with awe. Her fair face was flushed with colour.

Tsukishima had never met anyone quite like her. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

***

The trio studied together until the sky turned orange. Before they parted, Chiasa had pulled Tsukishima to sit on a bench in a corner outside the library.

"What do you want?" Tsukishima asked, brows narrowed.

Chiasa figeted under his sharp gaze, then steeled her resolve and opened her mouth.

"Tsukishima-kun, c-can you be...my friend?"

Tsukishima blinked. Huh? _She_ was asking _him_ to be her _friend?_ My, how the tables have turned. Just a few hours ago, Takeda-sensei had wanted _him_ to try to be her friend.

Chiasa took Tsukishima's silence as denial.

"T-There's not much to do!" She explained frantically. "You don't need to eat lunch with me. You don't need to walk home with me. You don't need to study with me. You don't need to protect me from bullies... You don't need to care about me..." Her voice slowly grew softer and her head hung lower as she stared at the concrete floor.

"I just need you to do one thing."

Chiasa slowly raised her head and turned to look into Tsukishima's eyes. They were really pretty, she thought, reflecting the golden glow of the setting sun burning a bright golden colour.

Tsukishima was thinking the same thing. Chiasa's eyes glowed in the sun. The unnatural grey was a bit unsettling - he could see why their classmates called it creepy - but now, they were nothing less of beautiful.

"P-people hate me," Chiasa admitted softly. "I lay low, I don't break rules, I speak formally to everyone, but still I get bullied. There must be something I'm doing wrong, right?"

Chiasa clenched her hands. "You're smart, Tsukishima-kun. And you always speak the truth, even though it hurts sometimes. You said I was pathetic. You're right."

"But I kind of, well, don't want to be like that anymore, if you know what I mean," she said, scratching her head. "So, umm, as my friend, could you - could you tell me, as blunt as you can, what I'm doing wrong?"

Tsukishima could do nothing else other than stare at her. His chest was feeling a bit tight. This - this girl. She thinks it's her fault. Koyama's bullying, their classmates' whispers, and god knows what else she had gone through over the years. She thinks all of that is _her_ fault.

"It's not your -" Tsukishima started, then stopped. He stood up with frustration and paced around. This wasn't his problem, was it? If she thinks it's her fault, who was he to deny it? He wasn't her friend.

But she was asking him to be.

His chest clenched even tighter. God, this girl. There was so much wrong with her, with how she thinks, with how she acts, but _it wasn't her fault._ How could anyone live like this and still look at him with eyes as bright as hers?

She was a miracle.

Tsukishima stopped pacing and turned to face her.

"All right. Whatever. But I'm really not gonna care about you other than what you told me to do, okay? I don't have time for all this."

Yes, this was what he should do. Limit their interactions, so he wouldn't have to care.

Caring hurt. He hated it when he had to put so much feeling into someone or something.

He didn't want to end up like his brother.

Chiasa smiled brightly at Tsukishima. He was a bit taken aback. This smile was even brighter than the one she had given Hinata. She must be thinking: 'Yay, now I can improve and no one will hate me anymore!'

Tsukishima turned away from her to face the equally bright sun. He almost felt sorry for her naive thoughts. Serves her right.

This was the price for trusting a monster like him.


	6. She's Too Freaking NICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't you all hate it when your mother is actually right about something you'd rather not admit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone help me I can't name chapters.

“I’m home.”

Tsukishima closed the door behind him and took off his shoes to place on the shoe rack. He could hear the sizzling of oil and raised his head to see his mother bustling about the kitchen.

“Welcome home, Kei!” His mother, Ayako-san, called cheerily over her shoulder.

Tsukishima walked into the kitchen and plopped down at the dining table, placing his head on the smooth wood. Ayako-san turned her head a bit as she stir-fried the vegetables.

“Long day?” She prodded, worried. Tsukishima let out a long sigh.

“Yeah. Lots of weird stuff happened. Met a weird person.”

“Sounds interesting.” Ayako-san put the vegetables on a white plate, then set it on the table next to a plate of pork and radish. She wiped her hands on her apron and sat down in the chair opposite Tsukishima.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Tsukishima raised his head a little to look into his mother’s soft eyes. They were the same golden-brown as his. Her straight shoulder-length hair was held back with a pink headband, the darker blonde, almost caramel locks the same shade as his brother’s.

“I got chosen as the class monitor against my will,” Tsukishima started, “then the teacher told me to try to make friends with this weird girl who’s my deskmate.”

“Weird?” Ayako-san cut in, cocking her head. “How so?”

“Uhh.” Tsukishima thought a while on how best to describe Chiasa. “She’s got wavy silver hair and weird grey eyes. She’s really thin and short. She’s very fidgety and she stammers a lot. She’s terrified of standing in front of lots of people. She gets bullied and doesn’t fight back. She says sorry so many times it’s annoying. And…”

Tsukishima paused, thinking back to his conversation with Takeda-sensei.

“My sensei says that she’s got mental illnesses.”

Ayako-san’s hand covered her mouth in shock. “ _Oh,_ the poor dear. That’s _awful._ ”

“That’s not the _point_ , mum,” Tsukishima stressed, rolling his eyes. “The _point_ is, I somehow managed to make friends with her, but now I’m kind of regretting it because it’s going to be a huge burden. I don’t have time to babysit her.”

_Go on. Say it. Say I’m being too cruel. Say I’m being a heartless monster._

To Tsukishima’s surprise, his mother smiled at him.

“You will, dear,” she said knowingly. “You will.”

“I _won’t_ , mum,” Tsukishima stood up, exasperated. Why did his mother have so much faith in him? “And stop calling me ‘darling’. I’m too old for pet names.” He grabbed his bag from the chair next to him. “I’m going to take a bath.”

Ayako-san’s smile remained on her face as Tsukishima exited the kitchen and trudged up the stairs.

Tsukishima’s father came home just as he descended the stairs, his hair still wet from his bath. The family had a quick dinner. They always finished eating in under half an hour.

Tsukishima and his brother, Akiteru, washed the dishes together after dinner, an awkward silence between them.

“So…how was school today?” Akiteru asked hesitantly, side-eyeing Tsukishima.

“Mmm.” Tsukishima replied, wiping one of the plates dry. He quickly finished wiping the rest of the cutlery and left the kitchen, not wanting to spend another minute with his brother.

He climbed to his room upstairs and closed the door behind him, sitting down at his desk and putting on his headphones. He pulled out his Maths textbook to do a bit of revision.

_But why?_

_I-I can’t do problem solving questions if I don’t understand the formula…_

_Sorry…_

Tsukishima slammed the textbook shut, a familiar feeling of annoyance surging up. Stupid Chiasa and her stupid 'understanding the formula’ bullshit.

… But he refused to admit that there was a student in the world that he couldn’t teach. Maths was what he was good at, after all. His mother had always said that if you were truly good at something, you would be able to teach it to other people. So if he couldn’t teach Chiasa, that would be equivalent to admitting that he wasn’t good at Maths.

That wasn’t going to happen.

He snatched his phone from on top of his bed and started Googling away.

***

Tsukishima pulled out his chair and sat down at his seat, his MP3 player playing soft piano music. Chiasa was already sitting next to him even though it was half an hour before school started, working on their modern Japanese literature workbook. Tsukishima peeked at the page number.

Page 15.

Gosh, what was going on in this kid’s head?

Speaking of what was going on inside her head… Tsukishima ruffled through the files in his bag and fished out a piece of paper. On it were his handwritten notes regarding Chiasa’s stupid 'why’ question.

“Oi.”

Chiasa stopped writing and looked up. Tsukishima placed the piece of paper on her desk.

“Tell me if you still don’t understand.”

Chiasa picked up the piece of paper, her grey eyes scanning the page. Tsukishima saw her mouth drop.

“Y-you…you did this…for _me?”_ She turned to him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Her fingers were clutching the paper so hard that it crumpled.

“No.” Tsukishima retorted quickly. “Not for you. For me. I didn’t want to admit that there was a student I couldn’t teach.” He turned away from her, staring stubbornly at the blackboard.

Chiasa’s mind was still processing all this. Never ever, in the entire 15 years that she’s been alive, had anyone ever even _tried_ to teach her after she’d asked 'why’. Her teachers had brushed her off, and her friends hadn’t understood either.

But now there was a piece of paper in her hands, answering her 'why’.

“Thank you.”

Chiasa’s words were so soft that Tsukishima barely heard them through his headphones. He looked up to see her smiling at him. For a moment he was stunned speechless. Her eyes were reflecting the morning sun so that they glowed white.

And _wow._

Tsukishima let out an awkward cough and turned away.

“Whatever. You’d better get an A in the exam.”

Chiasa nodded, entirely serious. “I’ll try my best!”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and stared out the window, admiring the rising sun. Students started filing in, and soon the bell signalling the start of the school day rang.

Takeda-sensei entered the class for their short homeroom. He greeted them and collected their forms, then launched into a 15 minute speech on how they should all get along with each other and make new friends. Tsukishima rolled his eyes internally. What were they, elementary school kids?

Their first class of the day was social studies. The teacher, Tomiko-sensei, was a haughty middle-aged woman with short hair, spectacles and an awful fashion sense.

Tsukishima would’ve love to talk back to teachers like her under normal circumstances - the type that despised snarky comments in class - but Tomiko-sensei was a teacher that he did _not_ want to cross. Their school had a points system where only 90 marks were for their written exam, while the other 10 marks were for their homework and behaviour. Normally, most teachers would give students full marks, but Tomiko-sensei was the type of teacher who would deduct your behaviour marks if you didn’t behave in her class. How inconvenient.

“We’ll be learning geography today,” she announced. “Take out your metre ruler, the one I told you all to bring yesterday.”

Chiasa froze. Yesterday? Tomiko-sensei didn’t say anything about a metre ruler yesterday. She was quite sure of that. She remembered everything her teachers said, and she always wrote her homework in her notebook just in case her memory failed her. There was no mention of a metre ruler in social studies yesterday.

Oh dear, what was she going to do? She didn’t have a metre ruler. She would’ve bought one if the teacher needed it, but Tomiko-sensei hadn’t said _anything._ She glanced around frantically. _Everyone_ had a ruler. Did she mishear? Or did she really forget? Oh shit shit shit shit shit -

Tsukishima watched Chiasa as she visibly panicked, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt as her grey eyes darted around. Of course she didn’t have a metre ruler. Tomiko-sensei had informed them in Class 1-4’s group chat last night. And she wasn’t in it.

Serves her right for refusing to be added into the group chat.

“You there!” Everyone turned as Tomiko-sensei shouted, her index finger pointing straight at Chiasa. Chiasa immediately sat up straight, her face pale.

“Where’s your metre ruler?” Tomiko-sensei all but snarled. Chiasa shivered under her angry gaze.

 _Speak,_ she willed herself. _Come on, tell her you didn’t hear, or you forgot. Just tell her anything. Come one, mouth, open!_

But her mouth wouldn’t open. She could only stare at Tomiko-sensei as sweat trickled down her face, her hands shaking like mad. She tried and failed to steady them. She suddenly had trouble breathing.

“She didn’t bring her ruler, sensei.”

Chiasa turned her head sharply to see Tsukishima, his hand raised halfway. He set his hand down and threw a side look at her, a look that said 'serves you right’.

Tsukishima continued. “She wasn’t added into - ”

“I - I forgot!” Chiasa yelled, interrupting him. Everyone turned to look at her. Her face felt very hot as Tomiko-sensei’s eyes bore into her.

 _“Forgot?”_ Tomiko-sensei asked incredulously. “I reminded you all in the group chat yesterday. How could you forget?” She shook her head and jotted something down in her notebook. “One behavioural point deducted, Mochizuki-san. And stand at your seat for the rest of my lesson. What an excuse of a class monitor you are.”

Chiasa bit her lip as she stood up, her hands still clenched on her skirt. _One point is fine,_ she told herself. _I can get full marks on the written test, then add the rest of the nine marks to get an S grade. It’s fine._

_“What an excuse of a class monitor you are.”_

Her eyes felt a little wet. _Stop it, Chiasa,_ she chidded. _People are watching. Stop being such a crybaby._

Tsukishima’s eyes searched Chiasa’s face. This weird girl again. Why did she stop him from telling Tomiko-sensei that she wasn’t added into the group chat? Tomiko-sensei might have let her go easy that way.

The lesson continued normally, save for the occasional glances Chiasa’s classmates gave her. She was, of course, conscious of all of them, her body tensing whenever she felt someone’s eyes on her.

The bell signalling the end of the lesson rang after what seemed like forever. Everyone stood up to thank Tomiko-sensei, who shot a dirty look at Chiasa before exiting the class. Chiasa breathed a sigh and sat back down.

“Why did you do that.”

Chiasa turned to see Tsukishima, who was facing her with his arms crossed, his headphones hanging from his neck.

This must be serious. Tsukishima never took off his headphones, not even when talking to other people.

“D-do what?”

“You cut me off. I was about to tell Tomiko-sensei that you weren’t added into the group chat.”

“Ah.” Chiasa looked away from Tsukishima’s accusing gaze. “Umm…i-if I had let you tell her…you would’ve gotten punished for not adding me… N-no one would’ve known that it was me who’d refused…”

That felt like a punch to the gut. “Why would you care about _me?_ What does it matter to you if I get punished or not?”

Chiasa rubbed her arm awkwardly. “I-I thought we were friends…and friends are supposed to care for each other, r-right?”

Tsukishima stopped. He suddenly felt like screaming and tearing his hair out. What a nice thing to do on an early Friday morning.

He stood up to turn his chair to face Chiasa and sat back down again.

“Turn around. Look at me.”

Chiasa obeyed, turning her chair and sitting down, her hands resting on her lap.

“You asked me to point out what you were doing wrong, didn’t you?” Tsukishima got straight to the point. He didn’t like beating around the bush with anybody, and Chiasa was no exception.

Chiasa nodded, a bit nervous of what Tsukishima was about to say. She’d only known him for a day, but _boy_ does he say the most cutting things.

“I just noticed something wrong about you and I’m going to point it out right now,” Tsukishima said, his voice rising a little. “You are too. Freaking. _Nice.”_

Chiasa blinked. That wasn’t what she was expecting.

“I’ve been nothing but mean to you,” Tsukishima ranted on. “I speak without thinking, and I’ve been told multiple times throughout my life that I’m an asshole. Sure, I guess we’re sort of friends, but you’ve only known me for _one day,_ and in that one day, I’ve done nothing for you.”

“But here you are, forced to stand for 50 minutes, _just because you were afraid that I would be punished._ I thought that after all you’ve gone through in junior high, you’d be more picky of who you trust.”

Chiasa looked away from his angry gaze. But she didn’t think what she did was wrong _._

“Umm, f-first of all, I’d like to correct a few things about what you said,” Chiasa started timidly. Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow, but listened nonetheless.

“Y-you said that you did nothing for me yesterday. But you were the one who stood up to Koyama, and you were the one who took me to the infirmary.”

Tsukishima opened his mouth to protest. Chiasa stopped him, raising a finger.

“I-I know you didn’t do that for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that you helped me.”

Chiasa looked at the floor. “I-I don’t get help often, so when I do, I cherish it. A lot. Like, umm, this much.” She held out both her arms and made a big circle.

It wasn’t often that Tsukishima was stunned speechless. He was known for his witty remarks after all. But lately, Chiasa had made him lose his train of thought a lot.

And now, his usually empty heart felt something. He was sad. That was unusual. He was rarely sad. He wasn’t sad when his trip with his family got canceled. He wasn’t sad when he’d gotten lower marks than expected for Maths. He wasn’t sad when his volleyball team in junior high lost a match.

But now, it hurt to look at this silver haired girl in front of him. Her innocent eyes were a constant reminder of how emotionless he was. She was so kind, after all that had happened to her, and he was scolding her for it.

He really was a monster.

“Umm, Tsu-Tsukishima-kun.”

Tsukishima looked up at the sound of her voice. She scratched her head embarrassedly.

“I-I’m not mad at you for scolding me,” she said softly, the ghost of a smile on her face. “In fact, thank you for being so honest with me.”

She held out a slightly shaking hand.

“P-please take care of me in the future.”

Tsukishima looked at her hand, then at her. Chiasa started feeling insecure when he didn’t take her hand.

“Umm, i-if you don’t want to, it’s okay too…sorry for bothering you…”

Tsukishima sighed. This girl was going to be the death of him. He reached out to take her hand and shook it firmly.

“Please take care of me too.”

***

“I’m home.”

Ayako-san turned to see her son, wearing the same tired expression as yesterday.

“The girl again?” She asked.

Tsukishima sighed as he took off his shoes. “Yeah.”

He dragged his legs over to the dining table and plopped down. Ayako-san sat down opposite him.They were both quiet for awhile.

“Mum.”

“Yes, dear?”

“You know the villains in books and movies who’ve had a traumatic childhood or whatnot?”

Ayako-san was a bit confused. Where was he going with this?

“Yeah?”

“They turn evil evil because they think ‘the world was never kind to me, so I’ll destroy the world’, right?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Then…” Chiasa’s face floated through Tsukishima’s mind, “why would someone still be pure and kind after she’d gone through living hell? I don’t get it.”

Ayako-san noted the specific ‘she’ in Tsukishima’s question.

“Well…” Ayako-san thought for awhile, “I think that’s because, instead of the mindset you mentioned earlier, they think the complete opposite. They think ‘the world isn’t nice to me, so I must be nice to the world’. Very few people are like that.”

“What kind of thinking _is_ that?” Tsukishima cried indignantly.

Ayako-san laughed a little at his reaction. She hadn’t seen her son express this much emotion in a long time. “Calm down, dear. I think that this person you’re talking about, she must know how awful her unfortunate experiences felt, and she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what she went through.”

Tsukishima stopped.

“So…” he almost didn’t believe what he was about to say. “she thinks ‘let me bear all the suffering so that others don’t have to’?”

Ayako-san nodded, looking a bit sympathetic.

_I-if I had let you tell her…you would’ve gotten punished for not adding me…_

Tsukishima suddenly felt inexplicably angry. He snatched his bag from the table and stomped up to his bedroom, grabbing a change of clothes and slamming the bathroom door shut behind him. He forcefully switched on the faucet and rinsed his hair furiously.

_I don’t have time to babysit her._

_You will, dear. You will._

Tsukishima clapped his hand over his mouth and let out a frustrated scream, wanting to loosen the tight knot in his chest.

It didn’t work.

Sometimes he really hated it when his mum was right about stuff.


	7. Joining the Volleyball Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiasa meets a bunch of people and almost dies inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Anxiety   
> There will be an anxiety scene later on after the asterisk (this thing*). I have a bit of social anxiety and I found it a bit hard to breathe while writing that scene so I thought I should warn y'all. But if you don’t have anxiety of any kind or are not afraid of crowds then you’re fine. 💖

Tsukishima looked sideways at Chiasa, whose brows were tightly knitted as she studied her Maths workbook. They were having recess now, and as usual, Chiasa was eating her food while doing homework. Was she trying to do Maths without his help? What a futile attempt.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispered, putting down his spoon. Tsukishima turned to face him.

“Shouldn’t you try to help her?” Yamaguchi whispered, concerned. He motioned towards Chiasa, who had stopped chewing as she pondered whatever question she was working on, the piece of bread in her hand forgotten.

Tsukishima arched an eyebrow. “Why should I? I’m not getting paid for this. Besides, if she wanted my help, _she should ask.”_ He purposely raised his voice at the last few words.

Chiasa heard them and looked over, her eyes begging. Tsukishima smirked, closed the cover of his bento, then reached out a hand for her workbook.

Chiasa’s eyes lit up and she scooted over, placing her workbook on Tsukishima’s desk. She nibbled on her bread as Tsukishima did the question for her, explaining his calculations along the way.

Tsukishima side-eyed her, twirling the pen in his hand. “You’re eating just that for lunch?” He asked, referring to the measly piece of bread. “Aren’t you hungry?”

Chiasa quickly nodded then shook her head. “Y-yeah, I’m eating just this and, umm, no, I’m not really hungry…”

Her stomach decided to betray her right this second as it growled loudly. Chiasa’s ears burned red as Tsukishima’s mouth lifted in a smirk.

“Whatever you say.”

Their small study session continued for a while, Yamaguchi also attending the free lesson. At ten minutes to one, Tsukishima exited the class to go to the toilet.

“Excuse me.”

Tsukishima turned at the soft voice to see a girl beckoning at him. He’d never seen her before, but he walked over to her nonetheless.

She was quite pretty, he noted, in a mature kind of way, with flowing black hair, grey eyes framed with spectacles, a mole on her chin and a curvy figure. She must be a second or third year. No girl in his year is this pretty.

“Yes?” Tsukishima asked nonchalantly.

The girl bowed slightly before starting to speak. “My name is Shimizu Kiyoko, I’m a third year and I’m the manager of the boys’ volleyball club. Do you happen to know anyone who isn’t in any clubs? I’d like to see them and recruit them to train under me for when I graduate.”

Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow. Manager of his club? Interesting. He turned his head to look into his class, eyes resting on Yamaguchi and Chiasa who were still huddled over the Maths workbook.

“Yes, I do. Please wait awhile while I go get her.”

Kiyoko nodded. Tsukishima turned and headed back to his seat. Yamaguchi looked up in surprise when he saw Tsukishima approaching.

“That quick?”

Tsukishima shook his head. “I haven’t gone yet.” He tapped Chiasa on her shoulder, who wasn’t paying him any attention as she huddled over her workbook.

“My senpai wants to see you.”

Chiasa looked up at him, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Your senpai? What does _your_ senpai have to do with _me?”_

“She wants to recruit you to be the manager-in-training of our club.”

Chiasa’s mouth dropped open. “M-manager? Of your club?” She paused.

“W-wait, what’s your club again?”

“Volleyball.”

Chiasa lowered her head to think. She immediately thought of Hinata. Hinata was in the volleyball club, wasn’t he? But joining a club…she’d rather not, given what had happened the last time she’d joined a club in junior high.

Just as Yamaguchi had said the first day they met, she used to belong in a cultural club, the photography club to be exact. But she had had to quit when the club members kept taking ugly pictures of her and giving them to Koyama. It wasn’t their fault, Koyama had forced them. He’d taken the pictures and posted them on social media, according to her friends who had smartphones. She’d been the laughingstock of the school for a whole year, everyone making faces at her when she passed them by.

But this time…this time Hinata, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were in the volleyball club. All her new friends at Karasuno. It wouldn’t be that bad, right? To be honest with herself, she craved the atmosphere of being in a club with people she liked, doing things that interested her. She liked managing stuff. Preferably not people.

But just the thought of her friends being there boosted her courage. She raised her head, determined.

“I’ll go.”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected that. He’d thought that she was too scared to go.

“All right. Come on.”

Chiasa set down her pen and followed Tsukishima out of the classroom. He pointed out a black haired girl, then left her in the hallway to go to the toilet.

The girl noticed Chiasa standing by the doorway. She walked up to her with a smile.

“Hello. My name is Shimizu Kiyoko, but you may all me Kiyoko-san. I’m a third year.”

Chiasa bowed a little as she introduced herself. “I-I’m Mochizuki Chiasa, from class 1-4…oh, I guess you can see that already…sorry…” Chiasa trailed off, her heart beating fast. Wait, what was she going to say again? She hadn’t prepared a script for this.

Kiyoko noticed her discomfort. “It’s okay,” she smiled warmly. “I’m just here to introduce the boys’ volleyball club to you, and to tell you what my position does.”

Chiasa could breathe more easily after hearing that. She wouldn’t need to talk. “O-okay.”

Kiyoko smiled at her again and started speaking. Chiasa did that thing she always did when she was concentrating. She stopped moving altogether as she focused on Kiyoko’s words. The only part of her moving were her blinking eyes.

The boys’ volleyball club of Karasuno High School were fallen champions. When they were under the supervision of the famous Coach Ukai, they’d represented their prefecture to compete in nationals. But Coach Ukai had been hospitalised, and since then, Karasuno had never gone to nationals.

On another note, the position of manager was to keep track of all the players’ statistics. The manager also had to keep track of the team’s practice matches and take note of the points for every match. She also had to help give out water and towels to the players after practice.

Those were easy tasks, Chiasa thought. She’d have to look up books on volleyball and study a bit to take down stats, but otherwise she would be fine. She could pick up new things quickly, she was well aware of that. The only problem was…

“K-Kiyoko-san…” Chiasa spoke up as Kiyoko finished.

“Yes?”

“Umm, a-are the club members…nice?” Chiasa fidgeted a little, embarrassed about her weird question. “I mean - w-would they, umm, bully me…?”

Kiyoko was a bit taken aback by her question. She’d expected replies like ‘I don’t know anything about volleyball’, or 'I’m not cut out for this position’. But Chiasa had accepted everything she’d said easily. And her worry…bullying? _She must’ve faced that in her junior high,_ Kiyoko thought. _Poor girl._

“Don’t worry, Mochizuki-chan,” Kiyoko reassured. “The boys can be a bit loud and rowdy sometimes, but they’re genuinely nice people. If they get too rough, I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

Chiasa relaxed at that. If Kiyoko-san said that she’d protect her, it would be fine. She was a third year senpai after all. The club members would listen to her. And she had friends there.

“All right then,” Chiasa decided. “I guess I can try…”

Kiyoko was so happy she clutched Chiasa’s hands in her own. “Oh, thank you, thank you! It’s fine, you don’t have to pressure yourself. You can try out for one or two weeks, then give me an answer. Is that okay?”

Chiasa flinched a little at her touch, then smiled uncertainly. “Y-yes, that’s okay, Kiyoko-san. And…one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“P-please call me Chiasa.”

Kiyoko smiled. She already liked this shy kouhai a lot. “Of course, Chiasa-chan. I’ll come to your class after school and take you to the gym, all right?”

Chiasa smiled more certainly and nodded. Kiyoko let go of her hand, waving before she left.

Chiasa felt…quite excited. Her first club meeting in high school. Her lips lifted a little in a small smile.

***

Chiasa half-hid behind Kiyoko as they reached the gym door. The gym was at the end of an open air corridor next to the building housing the first years’ classes.

Chiasa heard the squeaking of shoes and the occasional 'thunk’ of a volleyball hitting the floor. Kiyoko slid the door open.

“KIYOKO-SAN!”

Chiasa jumped, then focused to see a boy bounding towards them. He was quite tall, with a shaved head and an excited smile on his face. His arms were spread wide open, about to hug Kiyoko.

Kiyoko quickly ducked into the gym, pulling Chiasa with her, successfully dodging the boy’s hug.

“Hello, Tanaka.” She greeted. The boy, Tanaka, smiled sheepishly. His eyes fell on the silver haired girl behind Kiyoko.

“Who’s that?” He tried to peek over Kiyoko’s shoulder, but Chiasa moved out of his sight. Kiyoko stuck out an arm, not allowing Tanaka to get closer.

“This is our new manager-in-training, Chiasa-chan.”

Tanaka’s eyes lit up. “Oi!” He hollered to the other boys. “There’s a new girl!”

Almosy everyone who was practising left the court and gathered at the gym door. Chiasa felt her heart speeding up and her hands getting really sweaty. She tried her best to conceal her entire figure behind Kiyoko.

“Shimizu!”

Kiyoko and Chiasa turned to the direction of the voice. Two boys hadn’t joined the crowd; they were sitting a bit further away and were beckoning to Kiyoko.

“I’ll be right there!” Kiyoko called back. She turned to Chiasa. “Sorry, I have to sort something out. You can take this time to get to know the members. I promise they won’t bite.” She smiled reassuringly at Chiasa, then left.

Chiasa immediately felt the full intensity of everyone’s stares on her. Her mind was shutting down; the only thought going through her head was that she needed someplace to hide.

_Don'tlookatmedon'tlookatmedon'tlookatmepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease_

Her eyes fell on Tsukishima’s tall figure at the edge of the crowd. Without even thinking, her legs moved on their own and she bolted to him, ducking behind his back.

Tsukishima’s eyes widened as Chiasa clutched his shirt from behind. He could feel her trembling hands and turned to see her face ghastly pale, like she was about to faint.

She couldn’t be _that_ shy. This had to be one of her illnesses.

Everyone was crowding around them, trying to see what they were doing. Hinata was jumping up and down, trying to peek over Tsukishima’s shoulder. Chiasa could feel everyone’s eyes on her she could hear them talking about her and her heart was beating so fast and her hands were shaking so bad and she couldn’t stop sweating and she couldn’t _breathe_ -

“Hey.”

Chiasa could feel her heart rate slow a little as she heard the familiar voice. She tilted her head up slowly to see Tsukishima’s half-turned face.

“Can you come out?”

It wasn’t a request, it was a question. Chiasa was grateful for that. She tried to slow her breathing to answer, but her body was trembling so bad that she couldn’t control her body parts. She could only shake her head quickly in answer.

Tsukishima sighed, then nodded and turned back to the crowd.

“Back off.”

Everyone stopped chattering at his venemous tone. Chiasa looked up at him, shocked at his ice-cold words.

“Chiasa?”

Tsukishima set his eyes on Kageyama, who’d ignored his warning and stepped closer to see behind the tall blonde. Tsukishima could feel Chiasa move behind him, peeking out from behind his back. He lowered his gaze to her. Her mouth was wide open in shock.

“You know him?” Tsukishima whispered to her. Chiasa gave him a shaky nod. She looked like she had calmed down enough to answer him when a voice broke the silence.

“What’s going on here?”

The third years approached the crowd. The question had come from the captain, Sawamura Daichi. He was a largely built guy with dark hair and brown eyes, with an air of authority about him. Next to him was their vice captain, Sugawara Koushi. The team mostly called him Suga. He was more slender, with light grey hair and twinkling hazel-brown eyes. Kiyoko stood next to Suga.

“We’re trying to talk to the new manager,” Tanaka replied, snapping to attention, “but she suddenly ran off and hid behind Tsukishima.”

Daichi cocked an eyebrow. “What’s going on?” He asked again, this time directing his question at Tsukishima.

Tsukishima turned to Chiasa again. “Can I tell them?”

Chiasa assumed he was talking about her condition. If she asked Tsukishima to tell the captain, she would probably be exempt from making an introduction. That would be really good. But what if the team thought that she was weird? Then that would defeat the whole purpose of getting along with them.

Tsukishima almost couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes at Chiasa’s indecisiveness. He turned back to Daichi without waiting for an answer.

“She’s shy. Like, really, really shy.”

Chiasa’s head shot up, gratitude filling her eyes. With Tsukishima’s phrasing, her behaviour didn’t come off as an illness, but rather a personality trait. It wasn’t wrong to be shy. That way, she could still keep quiet and not lose the chance of getting along with everyone!

Chiasa clutched Tsukishima’s shirt tighter, not in fear but to let him know that she was thankful for his reply.

Daichi narrowed his eyes, confused. He opened his mouth to ask more, but was stopped by Suga’s hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the other grey haired boy shaking his head.

Daichi shrugged and decided to let the matter go. “Gather around, everyone!” He yelled. The boys shuffled closer to Daichi, then sat down in two rows. Chiasa sat in between Tsukishima and Yamaguchi at the back row.

Daichi started to ramble on about what kind of practices they were going to do today. Tsukishima cast a side glance at Chiasa. She was sitting with her legs brought to her chest, her arms hugging her knees and her face hidden.

“You okay now?” He whispered. Chiasa hesitated, then nodded slightly. Tsukishima didn’t give her time to rest. His curiosity was stronger than his empathy.

“You know Kageyama? That great king?”

Chiasa raised her head, her clear grey eyes looking straight into Tsukishima’s golden-brown ones. “Don’t call him that.” She said softly but surely. “He doesn’t like it.”

Tsukishima scoffed. “Whatever. I’m not going to start _sympathising_ him.”

Chiasa hid her face in her arms again.

“And before we start pratice, Shimizu has something to say.” Tsukishima heard Daichi conclude.

Kiyoko stepped in front of the movable whiteboard.

“As you all know, we have a new manager-in-training,” she announced. “Her name is Mochizuki Chiasa, from class 1-4. She will be trying out my position for a week or two before she gives me her answer on whether she will take on the position for real.” Kiyoko paused. “Would - would Chiasa-chan like to stand up here for awhile? It’ll only be for awhile, for everyone to see your face.”

Tsukishima heard Chiasa’s breath hitch, then come in shorter gasps. _Oh, dear,_ he thought, panicking a little. _She’s going to have a breakdown again._

He didn’t expect her to suddenly stand up and run to Kiyoko.

Chiasa stood next Kiyoko, who had a steady hand on her shoulder. Her head was as low as it could possibly get without her hair covering her face, and her eyes darted around the floor. Everyone was silent for awhile as they stared at her.

“Suga, is she your sister?”

There was a moment of pause, before everyone burst out laughing at Tanaka’s question. Even Tsukishima looked a bit amused. Suga stood nearer to Chiasa.

“I’m Suga,” he said as calmly as he could, bending down to let her see his smiling face.

Chiasa raised her head a little to look at Suga, then shied away quickly. Suga grinned at her nonetheless, then turned back to the others.

“Nope, I’m pretty sure I don’t have a sister, Tanaka,” he laughed. “She does look a bit like me, with her hair colour and all, but she has really pretty eyes and a different face shape.”

Chiasa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Pretty eyes? Was he talking about _her_ eyes? _Her_ eyes were pretty?

“Oh, yeah,” everyone agreed, still snickering a bit at Tanaka’s outburst. Chiasa felt the whole atmosphere relax, and she couldn’t help but relax too.

She steeled herself and raised her head up high. Everyone quieted down when they saw her movement.

“N-nice t-to meet you…” Chiasa managed, her voice barely audible, her words coming out in short breaths. “P-please take care…of…me…”

She flashed everyone a very small smile before sprinting back to her seat, this time hiding behind Tsukishima’s tall figure.

She didn’t expect everyone to turn to her with the brightest smiles on their faces.

“Please take care of us too!” They all shouted cheerily.

In the face of those shining faces, Chiasa, for the first time in her entire life, felt like she belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter, hope you enjoyed reading it!!


	8. This Was Supposed To Be A Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phone calls are the worst

“We have small meetings before every practice. Practice supposedly ends at 5, but the boys sometimes stay far later than that. You’re allowed to leave after 5 though. Ah, there’s the room we use for keeping the nets and balls.”

Kiyoko was giving Chiasa a small tour of the gym while explaining some basic things. The boys were warming up on the court. Apparently there was going to be a 3 on 3 match today, with Kageyama, Hinata and Tanaka on one team and Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Daichi on the other.

“That’s more or less how the club works,” Kiyoko concluded. “I’ll brief you on the basics of volleyball when the boys start playing, it’ll be easier to remember like that.”

Chiasa nodded quickly, then gave Kiyoko a quick bow. “Thank you for the briefing, Kiyoko-san.”

Kiyoko shook her hands. “No problem.” She eyed Chiasa, concerned. “Are you sure you’re fine now?”

Chiasa nodded. “I-It was a bit scary at first, but,” - she thought back to the team’s welcoming smiles - “but I think they’re genuinely nice people.”

Kiyoko flashed a grin. “That I can confirm.”

Chiasa stood next to Kiyoko when the match began. She didn’t know much about volleyball, but thanks to all three of her friends being in the volleyball club in junior high, she knew the basics. Her limited knowledge plus Kiyoko’s explanation allowed her to fully understand the dynamics of the match before her eyes.

According to her understanding, Hinata had great athletic reflexes and explosive power, but lacked strategy and technique. Kageyama, however, excelled in almost everything, except that his athletic prowess wasn’t equal to Hinata’s. Tsukishima was smart - just as Chiasa had expected - judging from the way he blocks. Yamaguchi…she couldn’t see anything special about him just yet, but she was sure her new friend could improve.

As she watched on, Chiasa was given another reason to like Hinata even more. He didn’t criticise Kageyama’s tosses. He didn’t complain, he didn’t rebel, he just hit whatever toss came his way. And Chiasa knew, to Kageyama, that meant a lot.

During his last match of junior high, due to his dictator-like manner of ordering his teammates to match his tosses, Kageyama’s last toss went un-spiked. How awful that must’ve felt.

But now, Hinata was there to hit his tosses, which were crowned impossible to hit in junior high.

Chiasa watched on as Kageyama and Hinata tried to do quick sets after Tanaka suggested it. Her eyes were starting to wander away - the duo weren’t succeeding at all - when a sudden bang sounded as Hinata spiked the ball with all his might.

Wait.

“His eyes were closed!” Chiasa breathed. Kiyoko turned to look at herin shock.

The two girls listened as Hinata explained why he closed his eyes, but Chiasa’s mind wasn’t quite there.

Total utter trust. Hinata trusted that Kageyama’s toss would be there even if he closed his eyes. How could someone trust anyone that much, especially if they were rivals in the first place?

The second time, Hinata failed to hit the ball, but the duo slowly got the hang of it and won the match.

Chiasa looked on as they whooped and cheered, having finally been accepted into the volleyball club.

“Follow me,” Kiyoko said to her suddenly. Chiasa started, then followed the older girl out of the gym to a storage room near the club room. They picked two boxes up, which Kiyoko revealed were team jerseys.

“H-here you go, Hinata,” Chiasa grinned softly as she handed Hinata the jersey with the number 10. “That was a great match!”

Hinata smiled from ear to ear. “Thanks, Chiasa! I’m so glad you’re here!”

Chiasa gaped at him. “You - you are?”

But Hinata was already jumping up and down with excitement upon receiving his jersey. “It’s number 10! The Little Giant’s number!”

Chiasa went around and handed the jerseys to the rest of the first years. Kageyama stopped her when she reached him.

“Umm, c-could you walk with me later?” He asked. “I’d like to catch up with you.”

Chiasa nodded, beaming. “O-of course! It’s really nice to see you, Kageyama!”

Kageyama inclined his head. “Me too.”

Tsukishima watched their interaction, the jersey in his hand forgotten.

He knew that he was being a busybody, but Chiasa and Kageyama really intrigued him. That weird girl and the king? How does that friendship even work?

Everyone turned at once when the gym door slammed open, a panting Takeda-sensei holding on to the frame for support. Chiasa’s eyes widened.

“S-sensei?”

Takeda-sensei looked up. “Ah, Mochizuki-san. Fancy seeing you here.” He flashed her a quick smile, which she returned hesitantly.

“I have news, everyone!” He called out, straightening. The boys gathered around him.

“We’re having a practice match with Aoba Johsai this week.” Takeda-sensei announced.

_Aoba…Johsai?_

Chiasa whipped her head around to look at Kageyama, who did the same. They didn’t notice the shouted questions of the other teammates as they gave each other knowing looks, before turning back to Takeda-sensei who was giving the details.

***

Tsukishima tried to block out the whoops of laughter around him. Daichi had promised to treat the team to meat buns after practice, so they were headed to the Sakunoshita Store a few minutes’ walk away from Karasuno.

Chiasa and Kageyama walked side by side a little ways further from the team. Tsukishima found his gaze sliding to them every now and then, taking in their movements and expressions.

Tsukishima had always been into mystery novels, and Chiasa was like the main character in one of his favourite books. What was her backstory? Why did she associate with the most unexpected of people? What was she thinking? What -

_Stop._

_You told yourself not to care,_ he chided himself. _Caring never results in anything good._

He wrenched his gaze away from Kageyama and Chiasa as the team stood outside in the yellow light shining from the store.

“Here you go!”

Daichi emerged from the shop with three paper bags in his hands, steam wafting from the top. The team erupted into a chorus of yells and Tsukishima winced at the sound. It was just food, had they not eaten anything before? Dimwits.

Kageyama suddenly appeared beside him, then proceeded to fight over a meat bun with Hinata. Tanaka cheered them on while Suga laughed at the scene. “There’s plenty here!” The vice-captain called, amused.

Tsukishima fished a bun out of the paper bag Yamaguchi held towards him, then turned to watch Chiasa. She didn’t follow Kageyama into the middle of the crowd, preferring to stand near the edge, her hands clutched in front of her and her eyes trained on the ground.

Suga followed Tsukishima’s gaze towards the silver haired girl, then approached her.

“Here you go, Chiasa-san.”

Chiasa looked up to see Suga holding out a fat white bun. She inhaled the delicious aroma, her stomach rumbling. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. And lunch was bread and milk.

But…she didn’t have any extra money to pay for the bun. She’d almost spent this month’s salary, because on top of buying groceries and start-of-school stationeries, her father had lost his job again and was buying more alcohol.

“Umm, n-no thank you, Sugawara-san…” She refused, even though her mouth was watering at the smell.

Suga looked surprised. “Are you sure, Chiasa-san? It’s fine, you know - ”

He was cut short when someone else took the meat bun and stuffed it forcefully into Chiasa’s hands. She looked up to see Tsukishima staring down at her.

“Eat. I can hear your stomach from a mile away. It’s embarrassing.”

Ears flaming, Chiasa obeyed and bit down on the soft bun, the saltiness settling into her tongue. Tsukishima watched as she took a bite, then another, and the bun was gone in under a minute. Suga laughed, reaching out to ruffle her hair before returning to Daichi’s side.

Tsukishima stood where he was as Chiasa rushed to Daichi after Suga’s silhouette and bowed, thanking him for the bun. When she came back, he shoved his own bun at her.

“Eat mine too. I never liked these anyway.”

“Huh?” Hinata popped up behind Chiasa. “But you ate one yesterday - ” He shut up after a look from Tsukishima, trailing back to the group with his head down.

Chiasa stared down at the bun in her hands, then at the blonde. “A-are you sure?”

“I said _eat.”_

“Y-yes.”

The club members walked for awhile before reaching a crossroad. Shouts of goodbye filled the night air as everyone went their separate ways. Tsukishima pulled his headphones over his ears, walking straight with Yamaguchi beside him.

“Oi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi.”

Tsukishima turned slowly, a nasty smile creeping onto his face as he recognised the voice.

“Yes, _Your Majesty?”_

Kageyama narrowed his eyes and was about to shout something at him before he stopped.

“I-I’m gonna let you go this time, Tsukishima,” Kageyama said, teeth gritted, “because I have a favour to ask.”

Tsukishima arched his eyebrow. “Oh? What could our _king_ possibly want from a lowly peasant like me?”

“Could one of you walk Chiasa home for me.”

What?

“My house is down that road,” Kageyama motioned to the road on the left, “and her house is somewhere straight ahead. And both of you are going straight, so…”

Chiasa whirled to Kageyama. “I-It’s all right, I can manage.” She did _not_ want to spend a single awkward minute with Tsukishima, especially after today’s events. “W-What about you?”

Kageyama waved his hand dismissively. “I’m walking home with that orange dumbass, he lives near me. I’ll be fine. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Obviously not.” The two of them looked up at Tsukishima’s voice.

“Of course you can’t let a girl walk home by herself in the dark, you idiot king,” he snapped. His cold eyes turned on Chiasa. “Come on. I won’t wait.”

Tsukishima stuck his hands in his pockets and walked on. He heard Chiasa’s hurried footsteps which slowed as she caught up with them. The trio trudged in thick silence, occasionally broken by the meows of stray cats.

“I’m turning here.”

Yamaguchi stopped and motioned to a side road to their right. Chiasa felt her heart skip a little. No no no, she didn’t want to be alone with Tsukishima. He’s… _scary._

Yamaguchi read Chiasa’s expression and let out a small laugh. “It’ll be fine, Chiasa-san, Tsukki won’t eat you.”

Chiasa eyed Tsukishima warily. The blonde returned her gaze with a glare.

“Goodbye!”

Yamaguchi waved and disappeared down the alley, leaving the two of them alone.

“Where do you live?” came Tsukishima’s curt voice.

“I-In an apartment, just a little way further.”

“Mhm. Do you have a phone in your house beside your father’s?”

“Huh?”

Tsukishima massaged his temples. “I don’t want to repeat myself.”

“Ah, y-yes!” Chiasa fumbled. “B-But it’s a wired telephone. It can’t be added into a group chat, can it?”

Tsukishima accidentally let his chuckle slip. “Of course not! I just - ”

He stopped, and Chiasa saw a light shade of pink dust his cheekbones. It was gone in a matter of seconds. Was it a trick of light?

“I just wanted to call you if the teacher gives any assignments in the group chat,” Tsukishima continued hurriedly. “I don’t want to hear any of your ‘I’m scared that you’ll get punished’ bullshit again.”

“Oh…okay.”

“Number.”

Chiasa recited her house telephone number while Tsukishima wrote it on the back of his hand. Tsukishima gave her his phone number in case he forgot to inform her.

“You’re not going to write it down?” Tsukishima commented when Chiasa made no move to get a pen.

“Ah, I remember it.”

“Whatever.”

***

A loud ring sounded in the Mochizuki household, followed by the sound of a bottle smashing on the floor.

“What the f*ck is that, Chiasa?!” Her father roared from the living room.

Chiasa winced and hurried to the phone in the hallway, her hair still wet from her bath. Why did her father have to be in a drunken rage today? She was in a good mood, which almost never happened lately, but as soon as she entered her house, her good mood dissipated like smoke.

“H-Hello?” Chiasa answered the phone, trying to keep the despair she was feeling out of her voice.

“It’s me.” Tsukishima said in a monotone voice. “Do pages 2-5 for our Maths workbook.”

“I-I’ve already done it.”

“Whatever.”

“CHIASA!” Her father raged from the living room. “Get me another bottle, you useless piece of sh*t!”

Chiasa’s heart dropped to her stomach. She covered the receiver on the phone.

“I-I’ll be right there, father!” She called back, hoping with all her might that Tsukishima hadn’t heard the chaos in her house. She put the phone to her ear again.

“H-Hello? Is there anything else?”

“Nothing.”

“A-All right.” What should she say next? She hated phone calls, they didn’t give her time to think about what she was supposed to say.

“Umm, goodni - ”

_Beep._

All Chiasa could hear was the steady beep after Tsukishima hung up, and the sound of glass breaking as her father ranted on about how she should never have been born.

_Thanks a lot, guys._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this, this fic is successfully updated to my fic on Tumblr! Remember to give me a follow ;) @haikyuuowl


	9. Reunion, and a Saviour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe life is going to get better.

The next day started early as the team boarded a bus to Aoba Johsai High. Chiasa sat next to Kiyoko, who was explaining the role of managers during practice matches and matches in general. They were supposed to keep track of the scoring and moves of the other team for future reference and improvement.

Despite this being their first practice match, and against a powerhouse school no less, Tsukishima, Kageyama and Yamaguchi didn't seem nervous at all. Chiasa knew that Kageyama was actually looking forward to showing down with his senpai, Oikawa Tooru, again. Yamaguchi wasn't going to play, and Tsukishima probably just didn't care. Hinata, however, was a bundle of nerves, and Chiasa remembered Tanaka’s horrified scream as he puked on the older boy's pants.

The practice match went better than Chiasa had expected, but she had a feeling that it was because Oikawa wasn’t present during the first two sets. As soon as the talented setter stepped onto the court, their team lost, ending the final set with 25-23. 

Then something happened that made the rest of her day.

She’d run into them as she wandered around the unfamiliar school, searching for a water dispenser. Kiyoko had asked her to help refill the water bottles for the boys after the match had finished. She’d heard voices and, as always, hid herself behind the nearest object, which happened to be the water dispenser itself.

“Chiasa?”

Huh? 

She peeked out a bit and her eyes widened. In front of her were two boys, one with spiked hair, the other with short, straight hair. She remembered the overflowing joy as she recognised the two of them.

“Kindaichi! Kunimi!”

Kunimi, who normally had an expressionless face, broke into a rare smile and swept her in a hug, ruffling her hair before letting go. Kindaichi’s mouth was wide open. Chiasa chuckled a bit - he looked like a surprised goldfish.

“W-What are you doing here?” He exclaimed. Chiasa gave him a smile from the deepest depths of her heart.

“I-I’m the manager-in-training for the Karasuno volleyball club!” She chirped. “Y-You guys continued volleyball too?” This question was mostly aimed at Kunimi, as the straight faced boy wasn’t particularly active in junior high. 

“Yep, though I was surprised that Kunimi wanted to join,” Kindaichi teased. Kunimi’s happy grin at meeting Chiasa immediately disappeared as he shot a look at Kindaichi.

“Shut up, turnip-head,” he snapped, then turned his attention back on his junior high friend, his expression softening.

“How are you lately?” He asked. Kindaichi muttered something along the lines of ‘biased’, which earned him an elbow in his stomach.

“I’m fine!” Chiasa assured, which raised two sets of unbelieving brows. She chuckled fondly. “R-Really! I made a few friends, and I’m with Kageyama!”

Kindaichi’s smile dropped a fraction, but another elbow from Kunimi brought it back up again.

“We’re glad to hear that,” Kunimi smoothed over. “You...still don’t have your own phone? We’d love to talk with you more.” He averted his gaze a little. “I...missed you.”

Chiasa hesitated, then shook her head. “N-No, and you guys know that my father hates calls.” She gave them a sad smile. “Sorry.”

Kindaichi shook his hands. “No, no, it’s fine. I hope we have a practice match again soon. Then we’d get to see you.”

Chiasa opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Kiyoko’s call. “Ah, s-sorry, I have to go now.” She turned tail to head towards the gym, but stopped.

“It was really nice seeing the both of you again.” Her face was decorated with a soft smile, joyful tears in her grey eyes. “I hope we meet again soon!”

Kindaichi and Kunimi waved as Chiasa disappeared back into the gym with her arms full of water bottles. Kindaichi nudged Kunimi once she was out of earshot.

“Still haven’t gotten over your little crush?”

Kunimi scowled. “I don’t have a crush on her anymore. She’s my friend, and I care about her, okay?”

Kindaichi rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.” He paused. “I’m glad she managed to make some new friends. She seems much better than before.”

Kunimi dipped his head in agreement. “I just hope she’s happy.”

***

“Where are you going?”

Chiasa stopped, then turned to face Tsukishima. “I-I’m going for lunch,” she replied, confused as to why Tsukishima asked.

“Don’t you always eat in class?” He demanded, eyebrow arched.

“K-Kageyama invited me to lunch at the canteen.”

Tsukishima clicked his tongue. “Then no lessons for you today, I suppose. Just remember to be back in time for duty.”

“All right!” With that, she rushed off to the canteen, her silver hair trailing behind her. 

In junior high, Chiasa had always had lunch with her three friends in a corner of the school near the volleyball gym. If she ate in class, Koyama would come and throw her lunch on the floor. Her three friends would always fume at Koyama for the days afterwards if he bullied Chiasa, especially Kunimi. But none of them would tell the teacher after...after what happened the first time they did. The only reason Koyama didn’t do that now was probably because of Tsukishima, who always ate with her alongside Yamaguchi.

On another hand, if she ate in the canteen, she’d freak out at all the whispers and looks thrown at her. But since the rules of Karasuno High didn’t allow students to mingle in other classes, Chiasa had no choice but to meet up with Kageyama at the public place teeming with other students.

Kageyama was never good at small talk, and Chiasa was even worse, so they both ate lunch in comfortable silence. Chiasa tried her best to ignore the chattering around her, restraining herself from flinching when pairs of eyes landed on her. After finishing his food, the black haired boy stood up and announced that he would be going to buy milk from the vending machine.

Chiasa nibbled on her bread as her mind wandered off, mentally solving one of the problems from her workbook. She suddenly felt a painful tug on her hair, and her bread was snatched out of her hands and flung onto the floor. 

“A _monster_ doesn’t need food,” a cold voice sneered in her ear. Chiasa’s grey eyes flitted fearfully to land on Koyama’s mean smile. Next to him was Manako. The other two were nowhere to be seen. 

“Bread again?” Koyama looked down at the discarded food on the dirty floor. “What, all your money spent by your father on alcohol again?”

Koyama’s words hit home. Chiasa’s face clouded over in a split second and she hung her head in shame, tears threatening to fall.

The vice grip on her hair was suddenly loosened and a shadow fell over her. Chiasa raised her teary eyes to see a girl with a hand on her hips, the other hand curled tightly around Chiasa’s, a dangerously sweet smile on her face. 

"What a gentleman you are,” the girl said sarcastically, tilting her head.

"Who are you?" Koyama demanded.

"I mean, it’s so brave of you to show your inferiority complex like that!” She ignored Koyama’s question, her bright smile not reflecting her harsh tone. "Not everyone can show how shitty they are. Still, it's not nice to piss on the feelings of a weak girl just to feel cool."

Chiasa saw Koyama’s eyes widen. The girl’s words were loud, like she wanted the entire canteen to watch their little scene, and sure enough, a few people had looked up from their food to listen.

_Shitshitshit._ Chiasa lowered her head as much as she could, hiding behind the taller girl’s frame. 

"Now, I must ask what happened to you to have such a low self-esteem,” the girl continued, tapping a finger on her chin in mock thinking. “Were you never validated as a child or something? Did the older children plunge your face into the sand so you feel the need to attack the weaker ones because you weren't strong enough?"

Chiasa could feel the air getting heavier as the girl’s words became even harsher, a dark, cruel aura surrounding her despite the sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Did Mommy never compliment your drawings? Or did Daddy never come to your games?" She mocked, her words as sharp as needles. "Or is it that you had the smallest dick in 8th grade and were bullied for that?"

Her last phrase caused some commotion around them, and even Chiasa’s mouth fell open. She noticed Koyama’s clenched fists. Her saviour must have seen that too, but the brave girl refused to back down. 

"Anyway, you need to get over that and start behaving like a human being. Don't you think that looking at your boring face is enough punishment for everyone already? You didn’t really need to open your mouth."

The girl laughed a little, getting on her tiptoes to finish her lecture. 

"Stop walking around like a fuckboy. You're 15." 

Chiasa’s grey eyes were fixed on the girl’s face with awe. She was so confident, not backing down the slightest when faced with Koyama’s murderous black eyes. In fact, Koyama was the one who was fidgeting under the stares of their audience. 

“Fuck you,” he spat before turning on his heel and hurrying away, not wanting to ruin his reputation further. 

The girl immediately turned to Chiasa and whispered a soft ‘follow me’. Chiasa obliged and tagged behind the mystery girl, who stopped at a nearby table to pick up some art supplies before heading off towards a quiet corner near the gym. She handed Chiasa her earphones and an MP3 player.

“Put that on,” she urged. “It always helps me feel better.”

Chiasa put the earphones on hesitantly, then laughed when the catchy tune of "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani played.

"See? It always works!" the girl exclaimed happily. She showed Chiasa a sticker pack she was clutching, then plucked a teddy bear off and placed it on Chiasa’s cheek, grinning.

"It's a gift for being so strong," she explained. "Now that I’ve given you a sticker, we’re officially friends! I'm Hoshiko Misari, but you can call me Misa! Nice to meet you! I hope I can be your star!” She winked. “You know, cause my name is Hoshiko.” She burst out laughing at her own joke.

Misari's smile was so bright it could blind a man. Her positive and happy aura made the girl seem like a taller (and blonde) girl version of Hinata.

"I-I'm Mochizuki Chiasa" Chiasa stumbled, bowing deeply. “P-Please call me Chiasa, and thank you so, so much for saving me earlier. I appreciate it a lot.”

Chiasa's formality surprised Misa, but the blonde bowed back. "Please take care of me too!”

Chiasa beamed, her smile mirroring the bright rays of the sun. She’d made another friend. Maybe, just maybe, life was going to get better. 

“Hoshiko-san? Chiasa?”

Chiasa whirled around to see Kageyama, who had a milk packet in his hand. _Ah, he must’ve heard us from the nearby vending machine,_ Chiasa thought.

“I’ve told you many times to call me Misa, Tobio!” Misa whined. Kageyama ducked his head in apology.

“All right, Misa. We gotta go back now, you know. We have cleaning duty and it’s almost one.”

Chiasa whipped her head between the two. “Y-You know each other?”

Misa nodded. “Yep! Tobio’s my deskmate! You know Tobio too?”

“K-Kageyama’s my friend in junior high,” Chiasa replied. 

Misa sighed. “I don’t know how you guys can stand calling him ‘Kageyama’,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s way too long! Tobio’s short, and cute!”

Chiasa noted the red that dusted the setter’s cheeks. “What’re you going on about, dumbass? Are you going to come now, or what?”

“Patience, Tobio, patience!” Misa shook a finger in his face. She turned back to Chiasa and clutched her hands. 

“I’ll be going then, Chiasa-chan! May we meet again soon!”

Chiasa beamed back, her smile crinkling the corners of her joyful eyes. 

“I’m happy I got to meet you, Misa-chan!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!! Notice anything new? ;) This chapter is our dearest Hoshiko Misari’s debut!! She’s the OC of my Tumblr friend and fangirl buddy @markkny !! Anne also wrote Misa’s scene in her incredible one-shot, I’m not mastermind behind Misa’s badass lecture. Serves Koyama right! I hope you guys will love her as much as I do!!   
> This chapter is dedicated to @markkny thanks for writing Misa’s scene putting up with my crackhead ass lmao ilyy


	10. I'm Your Friend, Aren't I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsukishima successfully stops himself from being an asshole.

"Chiasa-chaaan~!"

The bell rang, accompanied by a familiar voice. Chiasa looked up in surprise from the question she had been working on, only to be enveloped in a hug by the one and only Hoshiko Misari.

"G-Good afternoon, Misa-chan!" Chiasa laughed, relaxing at the unexpected physical contact.

"So this is that ‘Misa-chan’?"

Both girls turned to see Tsukishima with his brows raised, eyeing Misa suspiciously with his golden-brown eyes.

"You're not in our class," he said flatly, "so you're not allowed to be in here."

Misa smiled brightly in the face of Tsukishima's obvious hostility. "Relax, glasses-kun! I'm Chiasa-chan's friend! Are you her friend too?"

"Glasses - " Tsukishima spluttered. " _For your information,_ my name is Tsukishima Kei and I'm the class monitor. You're breaking the rules, so _please excuse yourself."_

Misa didn’t seem to have heard the other blonde at all. She shook her head and sighed dramatically. "Another one with a long name. Hmm, I'll call you Tsukki! Like the moon! So you're the moon and I'm the star!"

Tsukishima looked like his brain had short-circuited, his mouth opening and closing, unsure of what to say.

Misa plucked a sticker off the sticker pack she always seemed to be carrying, then skipped around Chiasa’s desk to paste it on Tsukishima's nose.

"There you go! Now we're friends too!"

Chiasa giggled at Tsukishima's expression, which flickered between rage and amusement, as he plucked the moon sticker off with two fingers.

"Who ever said we were _friends?"_ He asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes.

“Say, how do you know my name again?” Misa tilted her head curiously, not answering Tsukishima’s question again. “You said it when I walked in.”

Tsukishima pointed to Chiasa. “She almost fainted from hunger during duty yesterday,” - Chiasa shrunk under Tsukishima’s cold gaze - “so I forced her to tell me what happened.”

Misa’s mouth shaped a knowing ‘o’, then she to Chiasa too. "Did that fucker bully you today?"

Chiasa almost spat out her drink at Misa's...delightful choice of words. Tsukishima’s frown turned up, amused. 

“N-No?”

Misa beamed with approval, nodding. "Good! Here's a sticker!"

Chiasa smiled softly as Misa branded her with the same teddy sticker as yesterday and made no move to pluck it off.

A lot of thoughts were going through Tsukishima’s head right now. This Misa girl knew about Koyama’s bullying. And she was nice, very nice, to Chiasa too. Like a friend.

Unlike him.

Maybe he should just get out of Chiasa’s life. Get Chiasa out of his life. Whichever. She would be happy with Misa, she wouldn’t miss him at all. 

_"Tsukishima-kun, c-can you be...my friend?"_

_"You don't need to eat lunch with me. You don't need to walk home with me. You don't need to study with me. You don't need to protect me from bullies... You don't need to care about me..."_

But he _did_ want to care about her, he realised suddenly, his heart tightening painfully. He didn’t know when it started. Maybe it was the fateful day she asked to be his friend. Maybe it was when she prevented him from being punished. He wanted to be this girl’s friend, he wanted to let her know that no, all the bullying she faced wasn’t her fault, that she was a perfect human being.

_‘Do you remember what happens when you care to much?’_ his mind echoed.

To hell with that.

Chiasa jumped a bit as a red lunch box was slammed not-very-lightly on her desk, cutting off her conversation with Misa. She looked up in surprise to see Tsukishima staring down at her, his arms crossed.

“My mother made this for you,” he said shortly. “She said she doesn’t mind making two bentos, as long as you finish yours.”

Chiasa’s mouth dropped wide open. In a second, the bento was back in Tsukishima’s hands.

“N-No!” Chiasa refused, waving her hands frantically. “I - I can’t...I’m not paying her...and it would bother her too much...”

Tsukishima sighed, rubbing his temples. 

“Look,” he said slowly, as if explaining to a child why they can’t eat ice cream, “my mother made this especially for you. It would be rude to refuse, wouldn’t it? Besides, I’m, like, 120% sure you’re starving right now.”

Chiasa’s stomach decided to betray her then and let out a loud growl. Chiasa blushed under Tsukishima’s triumphant gaze. He bent down and pushed the lunch box back to her.

“Now eat.” He straightened, then turned to Misa, who was watching the interaction with an odd glint in her eyes. “You can go now,” Tsukishima said dryly. “I don’t need to remind you again that you’re breaking the rules, do I?”

Misa shook her head, smiling slightly. “Okay, I’ll go.” She patted Chiasa lightly on the head. “I’ll be going now, Chiasa-chan! Gotta teach Tobio English, he sucks at it.” She stuck out a tongue. “See you later!”

Wait. Later?

Before Chiasa could ask, Misa whisked back to her own classroom, straight blonde hair fanning out behind her. Chiasa turned her attention back to the red lunch box, her gaze turning to Tsukishima as if asking for permission. In answer, Tsukishima took out his own lunch box and pulled his chair over to sit at her desk. They uttered a quiet ‘ittadakimasu’ and dug in. 

“It’s delicious,” Chiasa gasped as she ate the first bite. Tsukishima noticed how she inhaled the food like she hadn’t eaten a proper meal in ages.

_‘She must have’_ , he thought. _‘She isn’t an orphan, she still has her dad.’_

“Thank you for the food.” 

Tsukishima snapped out of his reverie to see Chiasa’s clean lunch box, not even a grain of rice left. He blinked.

New discovery. Chiasa was a fast eater. 

“Tsukishima-kun?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Tsukishima’s hand stopped. Chiasa fidgeted a little, rubbing her elbow.

“I - I remember telling you that you don’t have to eat with me. You don’t have to talk to me, and you don’t have to protect me. So why are you doing all of that?”

Tsukishima set down his spoon. 

“Because I’m your friend.”

Chiasa’s brows knitted in confusion. 

“Not eating with you, not talking to you, not protecting you, that’s not something a friend would do, right?” Tsukishima explained. “You asked me to be your friend. So here I am.”

“Thank you.”

Tsukishima was sure he saw confusion flash across Chiasa’s clear grey eyes, but she thanked him nonetheless.

“You’re the first friend I made, you know.”

Tsukishima started. “No, I’m not. There’s Kageyama, and Hinata, and - “

“N-No,” Chiasa cut him off. “You remember I told you that Kageyama, Kindaichi and Kunimi were my junior high friends, right? After the practice match?” 

Tsukishima nodded. 

Chiasa smiled softly. “I - I didn’t tell you that they only became my friends because the counselling teacher asked them to.”

“Really?” Tsukishima exclaimed. 

Chiasa dipped her head. “Y-Yeah. But they’re real friends though,” she added hurriedly. “They really do care about me.”

“T-The point is, my junior high friends only became my friends because of a teacher. Hinata was the one who asked to be my firned, not the other way around. You’re the first person I plucked up the courage to ask to be my friend.”

“You make me feel safe. You don’t talk much, and to someone like me, it puts me at ease. You don’t judge me, you don’t whisper about me behind my back, you don’t bully me. 

“So thank you. Really. Thank you so, so much.”

Tsukishima was aware that he was well-versed in communication, able to sweet-talk and get on people’s nerves with just the right words. But somehow, this girl always rendered him speechless. 

Shame twisted inside him. He couldn’t believe that just a few moments ago, he had wanted to throw her to Misa, to forget anything to do with her. 

“Thank you for trusting me.”

_I’ll make sure you won’t regret it._

***

The bell signally the end of school rang. Chiasa leapt up from her chair like it was on fire, then proceeded to stuff all her belongings in her bag before hasting off. Tsukishima grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“Where are you going?” 

Chiasa shuffled her feet. “N-Nowhere. I - “

“Chiasa-chaaan~!”

Both students looked up to see Misa walking towards them, waving her entire arm. Kageyama tagged behind her, head lowered in embarrassment at her noise. 

“M-Misa-chan?” Chiasa stuttered as the blonde girl reached them. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I’ve decided to apply for manager with you!” Misa announced, puffing out her chest. “I heard from Tobio that you’re the volleyball club’s manager-in-training, so I thought I’d come and have fun with you!”

“I tried to stop her,” Kageyama muttered. Misa slapped him on the back. 

“C’mon, Tobio, you act like you aren’t thrilled to see me!”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not,” Tsukishima mumbled.

Chiasa gently broke free of Tsukishima’s lingering hold, heat rushing up her neck and ears. “I - I’m sorry, Misa-chan, everyone, but I really have to go. I have, uhh, a project to do!”

With that, she hurried down the hallway. Discovery number two of the day, she could run _fast._

Misa turned to Tsukishima, confused. “Tsukki, any idea what’s going on?”

“Don’t call me Tsukki. And no, I don’t. We don’t have a project this early into the year.”

Misa stayed silent for awhile, then decided to let it go. “I’m sure she wouldn’t like us prying into her business.” She tugged Kageyama’s arm and dragged him in the direction of the gym. 

“C’mon, Tobio! Onto a new year of adventure and fun!”

Kageyama sputtered, bending his back to keep on level with Misa, who was about half a head shorter than him. Tsukishima followed the duo after a moment’s hesitation, Yamaguchi by his side. 

He turned his head to look down the direction Chiasa had disappeared, then looked straight on and kept walking.


	11. An Unexpected Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherever Tsukishima thought he'd meet Chiasa in public, outside school (not like he's thought of that, you're silly), he'd never imagined that it'd be at a restaurant. Where she works. And takes their order. (More or less)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO IT'S ME I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS FIC IT'S STILL VERY MUCH IN PROGRESS. I'm sorry for my absence and the late update 😭😭 I hope this makes up for it 👉👈

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home, dear!” His mother’s voice sounded from the living room. 

Wait. Living room? Tsukishima glanced into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was no sign of his mother’s bustling form around the stove.

“Mum, are we eating out today?” He stepped into the living room after taking off his shoes and slipping into his home slippers, craning his neck to spot his mother.

Ayako-san answered from the sofa, the daily newspaper in her hands. “Yes, dear! Your father’s coming home early for once, so I thought we’d go out to celebrate!”

Tsukishima’s father, Tsukishima Yoshito-san, was a busy man who worked at a big tech company. He was a programmer, and always had to work extra shifts late into the night. Most of the time, when he came home, everyone was already asleep. On bad days, he’d even have to stay at his office for the night. 

Ayako-san eyed her son, who looked a bit worn out. “You seem a bit off today, dear. Anything wrong?”

_ Chiasa didn’t come to practice, _ he thought sullenly. She was probably the only person he could stand there. But no way in hell was he going to tell his mother that. 

The sound of the door opening clicked behind him, saving him from having to answer to his mother’s questioning gaze. Tsukishima turned to see his father.

“Kei!” Tsukishima winced at his father’s energetic voice and dodged his hug. 

“C’mon, Kei, you haven’t seen your old man in days,” Yoshito-san whined, very much unlike a 40 year old man and more like a 4 year old child. “The least you could do is gimme a hug!”

“I’ll pass, dad,” Tsukishima deadpanned, without his usual frigidity. His golden-brown eyes studied his father. Yoshito-san had the same hair colour as his younger son, and they shared the height genes too. Ayako-san had always complained about her sons’ and husband’s height. Yoshito-san was very much like Akiteru in terms of personality, cheery and friendly. Tsukishima had to dodge hugs and smooches from the two all the time. 

Yoshito-san sighed and settled with a ruffle on Tsukishima’s curly hair. He then raised his voice and hollered up the stairs.

“TERU!”

Tsukishima heard a bang as his brother supposedly stood up so fast his chair fell over, then hasty footsteps as he rushed down the stairs.

“HEY, DAD!”

The two did their father-son fistbump, then Yoshito-san slapped Akiteru on the back.

“How’s my college man doing?” 

Akiteru beamed. “I’m great, dad! There’s a pretty girl in my class,” he winked. Yoshito-san let out a whoop of laughter. Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“Now, now, boys.” All three men turned to Ayako-san, who was grinning widely. “Go take a bath, Kei. You too, Yoshi. Teru, you help me decide on a restaurant.”

Tsukishima and Yoshito-san chanted ‘okay’, then Tsukishima entered the bathroom upstairs while Yoshito-san went to the toilet in the master bedroom.

After everyone got ready, the family departed to a restaurant somewhere near their house. It was a place Tsukishima had never been to before, and usually he would be curious and excited to try new dishes, but today he wasn’t really in the mood. 

The restaurant was quite to his tastes, Tsukishima noticed as he and his family followed the waiter and sat down at a table. The lights weren’t too bright, but just enough to read a book or play with your phone. The music was just right too, soft Japanese style violin music instead of loud pop music. 

Tsukishima flipped through the menu while his father and brother chatted opposite him. His mother was pointing out some dishes, and Tsukishima nodded idly. Yoshito-san raised his hand to put down an order.

“Chiasa, could you go get the order please?” came a voice from the back of the restaurant.

Tsukishima’s head shot up. Chiasa?

He squashed the thought as quickly as it had surfaced.  _ There were probably plenty of people named Chiasa _ , he scolded himself.  _ Way to get yourself in a twist, Kei.  _

Fortunately or unfortunately (he didn’t know), the Chiasa in question was precisely the one he knew. His gaze locked onto the figure of his silver-haired deskmate slinking out from behind the cashier counter and walking towards their desk, clad in the restaurant’s waitress uniform. She stopped next to their table, her hands clutching her pants, her eyes fixed on her shoes. 

The Tsukishima family hadn’t noticed Chiasa’s weird behaviour. Yoshito-san smiled at her.

“Could you recommend anything?”

Tsukishima saw Chiasa’s hands tighten. She was quiet for a while, then forced a sentence out. 

“E19, B34, C67, D83.”

Yoshito-san blinked. “What?” But Tsukishima understood. He grabbed a menu and flipped it to the respective numbers of these dishes, and sure enough, each dish was branded with a thumbs up to indicate it as the restaurant’s signature. He showed it to his father. 

“Ah, all right. We’ll have all four of these then, okay everyone?”

Tsukishima didn’t hear Yoshito-san. He was stuck in his own head, busy guessing why Chiasa was here. Was she working? She must be, maybe as a part time job. But high school students weren’t allowed to work, that was clearly stated in Karasuno’s school rules. And Chiasa, the girl who wouldn’t dream of breaking the rules, was doing just that. 

“Kei?” Yoshito-san waited for his answer.

Both Tsukishima and Chiasa looked up at the name. Tsukishima saw Chiasa’s shock, clear as day, as golden-brown eyes locked with grey ones. 

He didn’t expect Chiasa to run away.

“H-Huh?” Ayako-san blinked, her eyes following Chiasa’s receding figure as she dashed to the back of the restaurant. 

“That’s her, mum,” Tsukishima said woodenly, still stunned. “That’s the weird girl I told you about.”

Ayako-san’s confusion cleared. “Ah, I understand. Let’s not pressure her then.” Akiteru and Yoshito-san looked at each other, unsure of what the mother and son were talking about. 

A woman rushed towards their table from the back of the store, frantically wiping her hands on her apron. She bowed as she stopped beside them, her black bun bouncing on the back of her head. 

“I’m so sorry for the girl just now,” she apologised frantically. “She’s...really shy. I’m really sorry.”

Yoshito-san waved his hand. “No, no, it’s perfectly fine. Is she okay? She seems so young to be working here.”

Tsukishima’s ears perked up, waiting for the answer. 

The woman rubbed her hands nervously. “She...has some problems in her family. Her father’s a drunkard, and recently he lost his job. Her mother’s not around anymore; her parents divorced years ago. So she’s responsible for the income of her family. I hear that she has jobs other than this one.” The woman looked very troubled and sad. “I really wish I could help her…”

Tsukishima felt like he just got hit in the guts. She was responsible for the income of her family? She’s 15, for goodness’ sake! And she wasn’t just taking one job, she was taking several? She was shouldering all this work, plus Koyama’s bullying, plus the stress from school work, plus her nervousness from all her peers?!

He suddenly felt like hitting something. Preferably himself.

“Kei?” came his mother’s concerned voice. “You okay? You look a bit pale.”

Tsukishima swallowed hard. “Y-Yeah.” He turned to the woman.

“I-Is she…is Chiasa okay nowadays? Does she seem down, or stressed?”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “You know Chiasa?” 

Tsukishima nodded. “She’s my deskmate.”

The woman’s face softened. “Ah. I’ve heard about you.” She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you for taking care of her. And to answer your question, no, I don’t think so. She seems quite happy actually. She tells me she has friends now.”

Tsukishima gave the woman a rare smile. “Thank you for willing to let her work here too. May I know your name?”

“It’s Makoto. You’re Tsukishima-kun, right?”

Tsukishima started. “How do you know my name?”

Makoto-san winked. “Chiasa-chan talks about you all the time. Your name just pops up randomly in our conversations.”

“Oh.”

He was left to his own thoughts while Yoshito-san placed their order. He felt the unfamiliar prick of heat at the base of his neck. Truth be told, he had quite a weird condition. His blushes only showed up minutes after a certain embarrassing event, sometimes not at all if he controlled his emotions well. He was very grateful for this trait, as it had saved him from being teased and helped in keeping up his aloof manner. 

Thus, his blush only surfaced after Makoto-san left with their order, dyeing his face and neck a soft pink. Akiteru, of course, (screw him) was the first to notice. 

“Mum~,” he whispered not-very-quietly, a teasing grin splitting his face, “look at Kei’s  _ face _ .”

Ayako-san took a look and burst out laughing. Tsukishima shot them both a glare. 

“Do you  _ like  _ her, Kei?” Akiteru continued making fun of him. “She  _ is  _ quite the looker, her hair’s very pretty, and -”

“ _ Nii-chan _ ,” Tsukishima gritted out, his tone warning. Ayako-san hit Akiteru’s arm lightly. 

“Enough, Teru,” she said laughingly. “Leave Kei alone.”

Akiteru wiggled his eyebrows, but let the matter go. 

The food came after a while. Tsukishima chewed on the meat, not really tasting it, his eyes fixed on the place Chiasa had vanished. He knew she was really bad around people, so meeting someone she knew in public must have been a real shock for her. 

His hand stopped midway on the path to his mouth, golden eyes following a certain silhouette as it crept out of the kitchen and sat back down behind the counter. Chiasa stooped low, her grey eyes peeking out as she surveyed the restaurant. Their eyes locked again as she cautiously glanced his way, and she ducked behind the counter again. Tsukishima let out a small chuckle. She looked like a mole. 

Akiteru blinked at him. “Why’d you laugh?”

Tsukishima shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, then turned his attention back to the food. 

“Nothing.”

They finished eating, and Yoshito-san raised his hand for a waiter to give them their bill. To Tsukishima’s surprise, Chiasa was the one who came, handing Yoshito-san a neatly written bill. 

“S-Sorry.”

The Tsukishima family turned to Chiasa, who was tugging at the hem of her shirt, shifting on the soles of her feet. Her face was flushed bright red with embarrassment. 

Ayako-san gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s perfectly fine, darling. We understand.”

The strain slowly drained out of her shoulders, and Tsukishima swore that he heard a sigh of relief. Chiasa raised her head as Yoshito-san handed her a stack of money. 

“Thank you,” she mumbled, giving all of them a light bow. Her eyes met Tsukishima’s for the first time that night, and she offered him a soft smile, her irises shining like a pool of moonlight. 

On the way back home, Tsukishima turned a thought around in his head. It popped up in his mind while he had been eating, and it solidified, making a home at the very front of his consciousness. This idea of his could work. 

“You’re whipped,” Akiteru punctuated the silence in the back seat of the car, popping the ‘p’. 

Tsukishima shoved him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr @owlywrites!!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr [@haru-senji](https://haru-senji.tumblr.com/)!


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